How We Weathered the Storm

Local nonprofits, businesses, and residents step up in the face of a once-in-a-century winter storm.

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Many of us, at first, welcomed the snow. We built snowmen. We made snow angels. We sledded down snowy hills and had snowball fights. Snow is such a rare occurrence in this part of Texas; we gleefully celebrated its seemingly harmless arrival.  

But the snowstorm that engulfed much of the state in mid-February soon turned dangerous and even deadly. Frigid temperatures triggered the bursting of pipes, causing widespread water disruptions. Millions lost power. Instagram videos of people sledding along snowy, icy streets were replaced by apocalyptic images of empty grocery store shelves, parents using their children’s toys for firewood, snow being boiled so people would have drinking water.  

It was more than Jason Suder could take. To help those affected by the bitter cold, the co-owner of Tulips sandwich shop and live music venue turned his business into a warming center, opening his 5,000-square-foot space to anyone who wanted to come in and warm up. Thanks to donations from local businesses, Tulips was also able to offer free coffee, food, and firewood.  

“It wasn’t a matter of ‘should we help out?’ It was a matter of `what can we do?’” Suder says. “That’s the way Fort Worth is. We saw it during the pandemic. If there’s a crisis of any sort, this community comes together and, immediately, begins to help those affected by it.” 

Tulips was among the many businesses in Fort Worth that offered helping hands. Here are some images and stories captured by Fort Worth Magazine during that unforgettable week.  

When water customers in west and north Fort Worth were directed to boil water after a main break and freezes at treatment plants and pump stations, Martin House Brewing Company offered free cans of its housemade, orange-flavored mineral water. “We knew some people didn’t have electricity to boil water,” says Martin House’s Pete Villarreal. “It was the least we could do. Fort Worth has been so super-rad to us. We wanted to pitch in any way we could.”  

Other local breweries not located in the boil zones chipped in with relief efforts, too. Cowtown Brewing Co., Panther Island Brewing, Hop Fusion Aleworks, and Wild Acre Brewing Company filled up water containers for hundreds of people who didn’t have water or were under the boil mandate.   

A couple of days into the storm, Juan Rodriguez, owner of Magdalena’s catering service and pop-up restaurant, got antsy. “I took a drive around town, and that’s when I realized just how bad it was,” he says. “The stores were out of food, out of water, people didn’t have any power.”  

Luckily, Magdalena’s kitchen had been spared. “I went over there to assess any damage, and there wasn’t any,” he says. “We were so blessed. I took that as a sign that I needed to help those who were less fortunate.”  

Rodriguez went to work, cooking, then distributing hundreds of tacos to the public and first responders. The chef has family members and close friends associated with local police departments. “The storm happened right after that horrible accident on 35,” he says, recalling the Feb. 11 pileup on icy Interstate 35W that involved 133 cars and claimed six lives. “These first responders hadn’t rested, hadn’t had anything to eat. The firefighters have been going and going. They haven’t stopped.”  

Rodriguez and his crew also distributed boxes of food donated by the USDA’s Farmers to Families Food Box Program.   

“You know what they did? They took those boxes of food and instead of using them themselves, which I’m sure they needed, they dropped them off at the homes of people who needed them more,” he says. “I remember one of the officers saying to me, `Can I have two boxes? There’s a family that’s lost everything.’ That really warmed my heart.”  

Qana Café, a family-run Lebanese restaurant on the far west side, was among the many restaurants to offer discounted or free meals. They offered the latter, posting on Facebook that complimentary soup and sandwiches would be offered “absolutely free.” “Our responsibility as neighbors is to help in what we can,” the café's Facebook message read. The restaurant also offered to deliver free food to those who lived within a mile-and-a-half radius. 

After the storm struck, the Tarrant Area Food Bank acted quickly, organizing a food distribution event at its headquarters in The Foundry District. But the food bank had its own issues to resolve first. On Tuesday and Wednesday of the storm, there was no power and therefore no staff. But by Thursday, Feb.18, power had been restored. Now, it was just a matter of staffing a distribution event. "The roads were still icy, so I didn't want to endanger the lives of my employees by making them come in," says Julie Butner, TAFB's president and CEO. "So, I sent out a note asking people to come in but ONLY if they felt it was safe to travel. Fifty-five of my staff of 93 said, 'heck, yeah, I'm down,' and we were able to organize an event for that Thursday."

Additional TAFB food distribution events were scheduled for that weekend, including three at Herman Memorial Stadium near the South Campus of Tarrant County College. With the weather clearing up, those events attracted lines of cars as far as the eye could see. "We wound up providing food for more than 10,000 families," Butner says. "Over a million pounds of food. Seeing how many people came and hearing their stories and grateful responses — this is why we do this."

Many out-of-state organizations heard about the catastrophe on the news and social media and acted accordingly, quickly. Mercy Chefs, a nonprofit group founded in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, came all the way from Virginia to serve restaurant-quality meals to those in need.  

“We were watching the Weather Channel and couldn’t believe what we were seeing,” says Ann LeBlanc, who runs the faith-based group with her husband, Gary. The couple then received a call from Fort Worth’s Gateway Church, with whom the couple had worked with previously on other humanitarian efforts. “They asked us if we could come, and we said absolutely.”  

The LeBlancs set up kitchens in Fort Worth at Gateway’s north Fort Worth campus and in Dallas at The Cornerstone Kitchen and 3015 at Trinity Groves. Over the course of four days, from Feb. 19 – 22, more than 50,000 meals were served by an army of volunteers, who prepared items such as tortilla soup, macaroni and cheese, chicken pot pie, beef and sausage pasta — plus bread, fresh veggies, and dessert. A handful of local chefs assisted with the food prep, including Dallas chef Sharon Van Meter and Fort Worth restaurateur Crystal Padilla.  

“For a lot of people, this may have been the only meal they would have that day,” Ann says. “We try to prepare meals that will strengthen them, help them get through the day, but that are also well-balanced and nutritious.”  

Mercy Chefs has served more than 10 million meals since the couple founded the company in 2006. Seven million of those meals have been served in response to the coronavirus pandemic.   

The Rail Club Live owner Chris Polone hardly slept the week the snowstorm hit. His West Side music venue and bar — which he describes as “broke as a joke,” having struggled to reopen due to COVID-19 — was one of the first establishments to open as a 24/7 shelter for the homeless and anyone else who needed a place to stay.

After sharing their new status as a shelter on their Facebook page, the people came — and not just to spend the night but also to donate water, blankets, hot meals, and other needs for the makeshift shelter. Polone counts over 250 blankets, over 100 sleeping bags, and over 50 individuals who just wanted to help. Volunteers drove to East Lancaster Avenue to pick up those sleeping on the street and take them to The Rail, and during a benefit concert dubbed “Disaster Fest” held at the end of the week, donors raised about $1,190 for people affected by the snowstorm.

Through it all, Polone says he not once felt overwhelmed: “I have been more motivated than ever before in my entire life.”

Polone has long been frustrated with the state’s mandates for bars to close in the wake of COVID-19 and fears it won’t be long before his business closes for good. Still, if this is The Rail’s last hurrah, Polone says he’ll be proud of it.

“We’re holding on to the inevitable; we’re going to end up losing our business,” he says. “But if we can help people before that happens, that’s what we’re going to do.”

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Moving and logistics company Gozova jumped at the opportunity to offer free firewood as Fort Worthians struggled without power and heat. At first, the company had those in need fill out an online form in order to get wood delivered to their homes. The company was able to make some deliveries, but after receiving more than 2,000 requests in less than 36 hours, Gozova (in partnership with landscape company C&C Services) decided to park itself at the Near Southside music venue Tulips to hand out wood on Feb. 19. Within three hours, the wood was gone.

For Gozova founder Goran Krndija, the situation was reminiscent of his childhood growing up in war-torn Bosnia.

“I was in a situation like this where we didn’t have electricity, we used candles, and the U.S. used to drop food to us during the war. I’ve seen my parents go through this,” he says. “It was family, friends, and neighbors who helped us get through stuff like that. So, for me, it was just a rewarding experience to be in a position now where I can say, ‘Hey, let’s spend money and give back.’”

---FOO BAR