School Counselor Uses Pickup Truck To Rescue A Community During Floodwaters

Blogged by: @RaquelHarrisTV

Can we slap a cape on this man because he is definitely a hero. Brandon McElveen, counselor at KIPP Explore Academy Elementary in Houston, is using his Ford F-150 pickup truck to rescue his community from floodwaters.

McElveen began getting calls and messages earlier this week from people he knew asking for help. One call was from a family with two girls he coached on the middle school softball team.

With his F-150 lifted six inches up and a borrowed kayak, the four feet of water stood no chance. McElveen estimates that he’s saved more than 20 people.

Before he got a call from NPR, he was going on grocery runs for those stranded by floodwater, one was his colleague and the other a second grade teacher.

“It’s just really surreal,” he says of the destruction of his city. “You don’t want to sit in your house and watch TV while so many people around you have things that they need.”

More than 200,000 children planned on going back to school Monday, Aug. 28, but now it’s pushed back to Tuesday, Sept. 5 for the district.

This tragedy isn’t easy for kids as they battle different emotions and mental health needs and McElveen says he’s here for them.

“I know they’re going to need support emotionally,” as well as practically, he says. “Everything we can think of, we’re going to try to coordinate a way to do it.”

If you’d like to donate The Houston Independent School District has its own charity foundation. Just visit houstonisd.org for more information.