Photo Credit: Facebook, Jim “Mattress Mack” McIngvale
No doubt you’ve seen or heard about the devastation that Hurricane Harvey is wreaking on Houston – unprecedented amounts of rainfall that have resulted in massive flooding, and thousands of people are looking for temporary shelter as they’re forced from their homes.
Photo Credit: Facebook, Jim “Mattress Mack” McIngvale
While some people have been slow to step up, Jim McIngvale (otherwise known as “Mattress Mack”) was one of the first to open the doors of his businesses to the public. And he didn’t wait until things got bad, either – he posted a video on Facebook as soon as the flooding began, offering up his furniture, mattresses, and roofs to any neighbors who needed them. Not only that, but when he heard that people were struggling to cross flooded streets, he dispatched his large delivery trucks to pick them up and bring them to safety.
“We put out a Facebook feed that we were going to rescue people, because there was so much need. The city and the local authorities did a great job; they just couldn’t get to all the 911 calls.”
Photo Credit: Facebook, Steve Chenevey Fox 5 DC
McIngvale’s two stores are currently at capacity, with around 400 people (and their pets) currently calling the spaces home. This isn’t the first time he’s done it, either – after being affected by flooding years ago, he built his stores on elevated concrete – so he’s got some experience creating a slumber party atmosphere during troubled times (he even offers his guests food!).
Photo Credit: Facebook, Jim “Mattress Mack” McIngvale
We sell home theatre furniture that you watch TV in, they’re sleeping on that. They’re sleeping on recliners, sleeping on sofas and love seats. We have sleeper sofas, they pulled them out and slept on that. They’re sleeping on hundreds of mattresses throughout the store. They’re sleeping on the couches – wherever they can find a place that’s comfortable, and God bless ’em.
Just one man doing his part, reminding the rest of us what it truly means to live as part of a functioning society during times of need.
Photo Credit: Facebook, Frank Somerville KTVU
God bless ’em.
h/t: NPR
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