Dallas chef returns to Kerr County to volunteer days after his daughters attended Camp Mystic

KERRVILLE, Texas — When we asked Dallas chef and caterer Jeff Rockow why he came to Kerrville to volunteer after the deadly floods, he replied, “I just … I had to come. I had to come.” 

The father of two picked his girls up from Camp Mystic a week-and-a-half before the waters of the Guadalupe River began to rise.

“I sat there during the award ceremony and, right where the water was going and it’s a wall out there. There was nowhere for the water to go,” he sighed. 

Rockow is volunteering with a faith-based nonprofit called Mercy Chefs, founded by Ann LeBlanc who recounted what she’s seen, shaking her head. 

“No other way to describe it but a blanket of sadness,” LeBlanc said.

The group is serving some 3,000 meals a day to victims and first responders. This is Rockow’s first time volunteering with the group.

“[Rockow] just had to come back and volunteer today because he was so close to having his children as part of this disaster,” LeBlanc shared. 

Rockow is not the only volunteer from North Texas. Mark and Kim Ellis, from Lucas in Collin County, drive their RV to disasters, volunteering with Mercy Chefs. 

“When you’re in the trenches and you’ve lost everything and somebody hands you a box of food, it’s a hot meal,” Kim Ellis explained. “I feel like it just gives them some energy, and they know it was made from love.”

“It’s a calling and we feel for each person that we’re feeding because they’ve had loss and a big loss,” Mark Ellis added. “All we can do is try to be there for them and help them.” 

“When you’re tired and you can’t move on, all of a sudden you turn around and there’s somebody there to help you and bring you up. Somebody to give you a hug. Yeah, you feel it,” Mark Ellis said as a tear shed from his eye.

WFAA asked Rockow what his message would be for the Camp Mystic parents whose children were lost in the tragedy.

“I can’t tell them anything other than I’m sorry,” Rockow said. “I can’t say anything. Mine are at home.”

Rockow and others are continuing to serve, praying for all those who are grappling with unimaginable loss. 

For more information about Mercy Chefs, click here.