This time of year we naturally start to reflect on all the things that we are thankful for. This year, TACAC is especially grateful for our members and the way that we have banded together in the face of Hurricane Harvey and its aftermath.
As we all know, Harvey made landfall as a Category 4 hurricane on August 24th, completely devastating the Rockport area. Harvey next traveled up the coast to the Houston area, stalling over the city and dumping more than 9 trillion gallons of water. Beaumont was next on Harvey’s list with parts of I-10 completely flooding out. By the time Harvey finally dissipated, the storm had dropped an estimated 24.5 trillion gallons of water over southeast Texas and southern Louisiana.
Many of the school districts in these areas saw damage to their facilities ranging from partial to complete destruction, forcing delayed starts and closures. For the students, some of them lost everything in the storm and many TACAC members were personally affected as well.
TACAC leadership immediately began making plans to assist by collecting supplies to donate to the impacted areas as well as monetary donations. The TACAC board voted to create a committee to oversee the distribution of funds collected. The committee is comprised of three Past-President's, Member at large and a current board member nominated by the current TACAC Board and approved by the President's Council. Committee members are: Past Presidents, Justin Doty (Chair), Jeff Pilchiek, Beverly Woodson Day, Current Board Member, Tom Becker and Member at Large, Heath Einstein.
After the call went out for donations, an anonymous donor reached out to TACAC with a generous offer to match any donations made up to $500. The University of Richmond saw the offer from the donor and decided to make a donation of their own. At the NACAC Annual Conference, TACAC President Angelica Melendez was presented with a $25,000 check from The University of Richmond.
