Cedar Hill Community Comes Together During Storm Aftermath
CEDAR HILL – Last week was a dark week throughout the best southwest in more ways than one. Temperatures were low, power was out, water stopped flowing, and emotions were high. As Cedar Hill residents looked for the light, Cedar Hill resident Frank Serrata and friends cranked up the grill. With the help of donations, they kept the food coming late last week as the power outages remained across the city.
Serrata kept everyone informed on his Facebook page that if they were out of power or water he was handing out “plates” to those who were still without.
“So far we cooked for everyone on Wednesday [and] we handed out a little over 100 sandwiches by today,” he said late last week.
Serrato’s FB post mentioned a real need for food at the Legacy Apartments in Cedar Hill where it stated ,“There are about 900 to 1000 people still living there” without running water or electricity.
Two days ago it was 140 hotdogs and 240 burgers Serrata and his crew had grilled and handed out.
“We decided to do this because we have electricity and have not lost power and several people we know have not been as fortunate as us,” Serrata said. “I always cook. I have a catering business called Eat My Meat BBQ, but we too have been greatly affected by this pandemic.”
Serrata said they handed out mostly brisket sandwiches and beans. One day they even added potato salad with the brisket. At one point bread was difficult to find so they made brisket plates instead of sandwiches.
“We actually help our kid’s school with the athletic fund because they really do not have one so we donate our time and supplies so they can get uniforms and equipment,” he added about his love of cooking and helping the community.
“We had over 100 on Wednesday and on Thursday close to 200 people that did not have power,” he concluded. “I just got donations so we could keep going. We have been fortunate to not lose power throughout this storm and I think this overall brought people together. I have also had a lot of people offer to help me.”
Serrata also gave a shout out to his prep team of Mayra Lisett, Requena Rocio Ponce, Mario Dixon, Butch Serrata, Nikko Rodriguez and Jenny Martinez.
Unity In The Community, Cedar Hill Residents Help Feed Neighbors
Serrata, who moved to Cedar Hill from Oak Cliff when he was 14 years old and attended high school in Cedar Hill, certainly knows what the term good neighbor is all about.
And he kept the conversation going during the outage too concluding “As for what people were talking about around the grill? The weather and the brisket – those were the main topics.”
Meanwhile, Cedar Hill resident Jenny Martinez helped spread the word about Frank and hot food on social media. She also helped keep the community informed on the contents of The Blessing Box located at 1231 Venus Cedar Hill, TX 75104, while connecting neighbors helping each other.
On Sunday Martinez shared on Facebook, “WoW what a Day!! This is what Unity in the CommUnity looks like and we had a blast! 👊🏾
Several neighbors showed up to serve others. EVERYONE worked and served, even the little ones. 👀
🚨Thanks to the additional donations, including food, from the community we served over 540 meals today. 🚨
Frank Serrata hooked it up once again! Thank you for your service and dedication to our community. Your idea of serving food to a few neighbors turned into a community effort when it was much needed. 🙏🏽 Please tag your sister. She was a superstar!
I’m proud of the team today that canvased the neighborhood, made phone calls and took to social media to get the word out to feed our neighbors.”
