Chamber Foundation raised $2.3 million after 2025 flood. After 2026, it has $35,000.
“I challenge you to go into a business you’ve never been to and buy something,” she said. “Those simple things will help our retailers not only survive, but thrive. They are the backbone of our economy.”
Mindy Wendele has been writing grant applications as fast as she can.
The Kerrville Area Chamber of Commerce Foundation, which raised $2.3 million and distributed nearly $2.2 million in direct small business grants within weeks of the July 4, 2025, flood, has raised $35,000 following the July 16, 2026, flood that damaged 122 businesses and roughly 1,000 residences across the same community.
“The difference with the 2025 flood versus the 2026 flood is remarkable,” Wendele said Tuesday on Lead Live. “In 2025 we raised $2.3 million and gave out almost $2.2 million. To date, the Chamber Foundation has been very blessed to receive about $35,000.”
The chamber’s 501(c)(3) foundation — established July 1, 2025, just three days before the 2025 disaster — was never meant to be a disaster relief organization. It became one almost immediately. This time, the national attention that drove 2025 donations has not materialized. The lower death toll in 2026 — one fatality compared to 119 in 2025 — meant the national media moved on. The donors moved with it.
To avoid cutting business owners out of larger relief capital, the Chamber Foundation paused processing its own grant applications until LiftFund’s $50,000 emergency grant deadline closes Aug. 20. Once LiftFund’s timeline closes, the foundation will resume its own process.
While she waits for grant funding to materialize, Wendele has a more immediate ask for residents: shop local. Her Spend Local Challenge urges every Kerr County resident to walk into a business they have never visited before — a lighting store, a paint retailer, a cleaning supply company — and buy something. Purchase gift cards for restaurants and salons. Keep money circulating inside the local economy.
“I challenge you to go into a business you’ve never been to and buy something,” she said. “Those simple things will help our retailers not only survive, but thrive. They are the backbone of our economy.”
Beyond disaster relief, the foundation funds six $1,000 scholarships for area seniors annually. The Leadership Kerr County Class of 41 is designing a fundraising campaign to expand that program, backed by a $5,000 matching grant from the Marge Nicholson Memorial Fund.
The Chamber’s 827-member business league separately turned its finances around over the past three years after facing deep financial trouble. Wendele steered it through that transition and has been steering it through two floods since.
“We are a resilient community,” she said. “If we support each other — business, emotional, spiritually, financially — we’re going to weather this storm.”
To donate to the Chamber Foundation’s flood relief fund or learn about the Spend Local Challenge: kerrvillechamber.com.
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