Raising Funds to Put Rockport, Texas, Back Together After Hurricane Harvey

Radio and TV personality Kerri Kasem, in Texas with the Scientology Volunteer Ministers, raises funds for Rockport, a community that was all but destroyed by Hurricane Harvey, and to save the life of a Rockport child.

When Hurricane Harvey struck, radio and TV host and activist Kerri Kasem posted on her Facebook: “Houston needs help! Heading there today… Going with the amazing Volunteer Ministers who I went to Haiti with. They bring supplies, food, medicine, doctors, nurses, EMTs and volunteers like me.”

She flew in to Austin and drove the 3½ hours to Rockport. “It’s totally devastated,” she said in a Facebook video. “35 percent of the buildings are absolutely gone; 85 percent of the buildings have been damaged.”

She went on the air on the Simon Conway and Joe Pags shows and raised more than $100,000 to go directly to the town. “There is a lot of help going to Houston which is absolutely needed,” she said, “but we need it desperately here in the city of Rockport.”

Kerri is part of the team of Scientology Volunteer Ministers who are doing whatever Rockport needs. They deliver supplies, fix generators and do the arduous work of clearing the debris from houses that can still be salvaged. Their first priority has been helping the families of local firefighters, police and other aid workers. By cleaning up and repairing their damaged homes, they are making it possible for these emergency personnel to stay on the job.

Kerri also visited the Driscoll Children’s Hospital in Corpus Christi where she met 3-year-old Kara Spangler and her mother Anne. The family’s home was completely destroyed by the hurricane. But they had a problem that was even more pressing—Kara needs to correct a very serious congenital condition. Only one specialist, a surgeon in Boston, can perform the operation she needs but their insurance won’t cover surgery in that hospital. Kerri posted a video on her Facebook and contacted a friend, a philanthropist. Her friend has agreed to cover the entire cost of the surgery personally and through a foundation the woman has established.

“I don’t think I’ve ever sweated so much in my life! We helped five families clear debris from their homes today,” Kerri posted on her Facebook. “One sweet little lady named Mary Lou was outside her house picking up tiny little branches and we could see her roof needed fixing and there were several downed trees. We asked her if she needed help and then out came the chainsaws and the 40 member crew! We cleared her front yard, backyard and fixed the roof in just a few hours.”

The Scientology Volunteer Ministers program is a religious social service created in the mid-1970s. Their Hurricane Harvey disaster response has been made possible by a grant from the International Association of Scientologists.

Hurricane Harvey may be the most expensive in U.S. history at an estimated cost of over $190 billion. If you can help, contact the International Scientology Volunteer Ministers Headquarters in Los Angeles at (800) HELP-4-YU or (323) 960-1949 or email disasterresponse@volunteerministers.org.