Mayor David McDavid, along with a team of 14 members from the City of Zachary, Zachary Fire Department, Zachary Police Department, and local business Thornton, Musso & Bellemin, recently returned from Kerrville, Texas, where they served meals to 500 residents impacted by the devastating flooding on the morning of July 4. 

The Mayor was contacted by the American Legion Post 208 in Kerrville, which has been partnering with cooking teams from across the country to support the community. The Zachary team prepared jambalaya and smoked chicken dinners, which were warmly received.

Mayor McDavid’s son, Brad McDavid, a Safety Professional with Civitas Resources in San Antonio, also joined the effort, distributing First Aid Kits to residents as they picked up their meals.

“It was truly rewarding to assist those who have endured such tremendous loss from this tragic flooding, which claimed so many lives,” said Mayor McDavid. “When the call for help came, our team was ready to travel to Kerrville and serve those in need. Disasters like flash flooding can strike any community without warning, and we were proud to be there to lend a hand. I’m especially grateful to Thornton, Musso & Bellemin and SW Wholesale Foods for their generous food donations, which made this outreach possible.”

The crew was stationed “literally at ground zero” right on the river feeding not just first responders, but also anyone who came up needing a hot meal. The devastation was still visible everywhere they looked. Debris remained lodged 20 to 30 feet up in trees, a stark reminder of the flood's power. For the Zachary team, seeing the destruction firsthand brought back memories of their own community's struggles.

Chief of Police Darryl Lawrence tied the outreach to the 2016 Baton Rouge floods. “We know from experience from the 2016 flood what actually happened. We knew the problems that we had here. So, what we decided to do as a collected group was to go and help people in other areas who were experiencing some of the same things that we were experiencing in 2016. We had people to come help us so we wanted to return that favor by going out and helping other people”

This wasn't the team's first disaster response effort. They've made similar trips to North Carolina, continuing their commitment to helping communities in crisis. The approach is simple: when disaster strikes elsewhere, Zachary shows up to cook.

The three-day mission served as both community service and a reminder of how quickly disaster can strike any community. For a city that knows what it's like to need help, extending that same support to others has become second nature. The choice to help others facing similar disasters isn't complicated, delivering Hope, Health, and Happiness is just the right thing to do.