Kerrville Ranch & Pet Center
1900 Junction Hwy, Kerrville, TX, United States, Texas
Phone:830-895-5800
RazorBack Magazine takes pride in delivering top-tier editorial content, serving as a reputable source of information for its readers. Recently, the magazine had the esteemed privilege of obtaining a statement from The General Manager, Kimberlyn Hughes, of Kerrville Ranch & Pet Center, shedding light on the current happenings in Texas. This exclusive insight provided by Kimberlyn Hughes offers readers a unique and perspective on what is going on.
First, I would like to make it known that our store – Kerrville Ranch and Pet Center- was not directly affected by the horrific flooding that occurred on July 4th in Kerr County. While we are right off the river, we were very lucky to be high enough to not have the water reach our building. As soon as we understood the magnitude of the flood, we immediately wanted to jump in and help all of the First Responders, Volunteers, and the members of our community who lost everything. I don’t believe that people even realize how bad it actually is. My husband and I walked along the river’s edge to look at the damage and it is humbling to stand next to a pile of debris that is as tall as most houses and in some places easily 30 plus feet tall. Our store, Kerrville Ranch and Pet Center, is owned by Craig Lauger out of Victoria, Tx, and our operations manager, Shar, is also based out of Victoria, but they both were on board with helping wherever we can, however we can. Shar came down Monday with a truck load of water, snacks, and food for us to cook and be able to serve whoever is in need. Kerrville Pets Alive (a local organization) brought us truckloads of dog and cat food to give to people who lost everything. Our store is located right off the main highway heading to Hunt and Ingram. Every day we see the helicopters searching the river banks, we see all the State Troopers, Game Wardens, Sheriff Officers (from all over the state), Fire Trucks, and electric companies from all over Texas. We hear the sirens and watch them all rush to different locations praying and hoping for a good outcome. Through us being able to donate and deliver feed to families, search and rescue teams, first responders, and animals we’ve heard so many stories that make your heart ache. We have met people who lived in RVs along the river, who now have nowhere to call home. We’ve had customers come in who ended up trapped in their home with their children and stood on window sills to be able to breath. The devastation really is unfathomable unless you’re here in it.
On Monday morning our crew at Kerrville Ranch and Pet Center really didn’t know where to begin. We started receiving call after call, letting us know what was needed and where. We knew we had drinks and food enroute to our store so we started focusing on supplies. We took all of the leather work gloves we had on our shelves to Search and Rescue teams, we took shovels and wheelbarrows, heavy duty trash bags, really Monday we went into all hands-on deck mode. Monday is also the day our vendors started reaching out and offering to help where they could. We are so incredibly thankful for our vendors who called to check on us and who have been working with us to get more supplies for the First Responders, Families, and Volunteers. Yeti sent one of their local area reps down with a truck load of coolers that we were able to take to the Center Point Fire Department, Purina has put together a semi load of feed for horses, dogs, cats, and livestock that we will be able to take to the Search and Rescue animals and to the Camps to help feed their animals. A gentleman, John Fitzgerald, with Veteran’s BBQ out of Denton, Tx is driving down and is setting up in our parking lot on the 10th so we can take plates of BBQ out to the people working on the river. While this entire situation is heart breaking, the amount of support not only our fellow Texans are giving us, but the entire United States rallying behind our small community really does blow everyone’s minds.
At this point, we believe the immediate human needs have been met for the most part. The first responders, volunteers, and search and rescue teams still need ways to keep drinks cold, they need chainsaw chains, bar oil, fuel for the equipment, they need gloves and insect repellent. We still need support and we will need support for weeks – if not months to come, but together we will get through this. We are now switching gears and starting to collect monetary donations that we will use for the future needs. We have an account set up where we can use the funds from donations to purchase what is in need at any given time. This isn’t going to be one of the disasters that is all done and over within a week or two. Our community is going to struggle and have to work together to rebuild. Kerrville Ranch and Pet isn’t a part of a big corporation; we’re owned by a husband and wife from Texas, and we will be here to support our small town of Kerrville for years to come. If anyone feels it in their heart to make a donation, please reach out to us at (830)895-5800. Every dollar helps more than anyone truly knows.
Thank you,
Kimberlyn Hughes
General Manager
Sincerely,
Kerrville Ranch & Pet Center
830-895-5800
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