As the death toll continues to rise after the Fourth of July weekend flood in the Hill Country and Central Texas, at least 130 families have had to plan unexpected funerals for the sudden loss of their loved ones.Trey Ganem, with Soulshine Industries out of Edna, Texas, is doing what he can to help ease the burden for these families.
Ganem, who is originally from Kerrville, has made personalized caskets for children and adults killed in the deadly flash floods in the Hill Country.
“This has just been really wild, the way everything has happened. I’ve had four families call today, and they’re still waiting on their loved ones being found, so this one has been really hard,” expressed Ganem. “But we’re doing it to show the love and letting their soul shine.”
He has a reputation for this generosity during large tragedies, like three years ago when he provided 19 customized caskets at no cost for the children killed at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde.
Now he’s providing the same donation, free personalized caskets, to flood victims’ families.
“We customize every single one of them to match what they loved,” explained Ganem. “It’s not about painting a casket, it’s about representing their lives.”
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NBCDFW.com Image of Trey Ganem, who has made personalized caskets for children and adults killed in the deadly flash floods in the Hill Country.
He said he’s doing a rose theme for a young girl from Beaumont who died. Another family asked him to decorate the casket with horses for a father who loved the animal. He said the family of a mother who lost her life asked for him to place a dream catcher on it.
Due to the number of caskets, he’s had to go across the state to different warehouses to get more caskets. He stopped in Farmer’s Branch on Monday to pick up seven of them, including three for children.
Ganem said it takes about four hours to customize one casket and plans to have all of the ones he picked up on Monday done by Tuesday. He’s working with several other people across the state to help design and deliver them to the families.
He said this tragedy is different than other ones because of how many people died and the continuous updates of new bodies.
“It’s a much larger scale; the other ones were all at one time. These are coming in, here’s another one and another one,” said Ganem as first responders continue to search for bodies.
He said that while it is mentally and emotionally tough, he takes pride in what he and his team do. Ganem said he’s passionate about his work, knowing it helps give a glimmer of hope to families during their darkest times.
“I know there’s a reason and a purpose, and my purpose in life is to help others, and that’s why we do this,” said Ganem.
He said that so far, they’ve provided 27 caskets and urns for people killed in the flood.
How to help with Central Texas flood relief
Join NBC 5 and Telemundo 39 in our efforts to help those whose lives have been upended by recent storms and record flooding, as well as countless other crises. You can help by donating to the American Red Cross Disaster Relief. Your financial donation helps provide shelter, meals, relief supplies, emotional support, recovery planning and other assistance during disasters like the one in Texas.
In response to questions about what people can do to help the area recover from the deadly flood, Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha said the Community Foundation of the Texas Hill Country, a 501(c)(3) charity serving the Texas Hill Country, has established a relief fund to support vetted local response, relief and recovery efforts. Organizers said all donations go directly to organizations working on the front lines of the July 4 flooding emergency. All donations are tax-deductible, and you will receive a receipt for your gift. To learn more or donate, visit the Community Foundation of the Texas Hill Country here.
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