If food is love, then love has arrived in Houston.
Dozens of volunteers with Operation BBQ Relief arrived in downtown Houston Wednesday to serve thousands of meals to first responders and survivors. Pit masters, restaurant owners and barbecue enthusiasts traveled from across the country to get cooking.
Chris Huggins drove from North Texas with donated food and trucks from Copper Express and Encore Wire in McKinney. He's been volunteering with Operation BBQ Relief for several years.
"I love barbecue. I love cooking barbecue. I love helping people. So I could cook barbecue and help people all at the same time," he said. "It's a win-win."
Huggins experienced the love firsthand when his hometown of Rowlett was hit by the 2015 tornadoes. Operation BBQ relief arrived to serve thousands of meals.
"The state of Texas is united. When one city hurts, we hurt with them," said Huggins.
Volunteer William Tischina didn't have to travel far.
"I'm here to help out my city," said Tischina.
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His home and his parent's home flooded, but the barbecue enthusiast wanted to do something to help his hometown.
"We got to stay strong. We got to overcome this. Do whatever we can to help the city rebuild and this is part of the rebuilding process."
Operation BBQ relief will serve meals on site in downtown Houston and will package meals to be delivered to thousands of first responders and shelters.
More: operationbbqrelief.org
