Kerr County Cares Foundation: 600 deliveries in 10 months, a volunteer’s garage, and an Ingram woman who grabbed a stranger’s hand and cried

Haley Huser noticed that WIC benefits froze completely during the federal government shutdown — and that the families depending on them had nowhere to turn.

She did something about it. In October 2025, she launched what would become the Kerr County Cares Foundation. By January 2026, it was an official 501(c)(3). In its first 10 months, the organization fulfilled 600 individual delivery requests for Kerr County residents.

Brandon Newton, the foundation’s secretary and Huser’s brother-in-law, appeared Thursday on Lead Live’s Nonprofit Week to describe what makes the organization different from most food assistance programs: it does not distribute generic pre-packaged boxes. It fills individualized orders.

Families contact the foundation with specific needs — a dietary restriction, an allergy, a particular item for an infant — and the foundation delivers directly to their door. Every single order includes fresh produce. The organization serves any Kerr County resident regardless of income documentation.

“On paper you can always look like you’re doing fine,” Newton said. “But that’s not necessarily always the case. We’re here for every Kerr County resident.”

After the July 16 flood, the foundation saw a significant spike in requests — specifically from families whose homes were not in official flood zones and who were therefore ineligible for assistance from larger disaster relief agencies. These residents had damage, disrupted income, and empty refrigerators. They did not fit the definition that FEMA or major nonprofits use for disaster victims.

Newton described delivering groceries to a family in Ingram. The woman who answered the door grabbed his hand and started crying.

“Just the matter of handing them a simple bag of groceries helped them get to a point where they felt like they could make it to the next,” he said.

Newton is clear about the foundation’s strategic position in the recovery ecosystem: it is built to stay when other organizations leave.

“We want to let people know that while we can’t give a lot in a single order, we’re here to give you multiple orders throughout time,” he said. “We’re here to help after these other organizations have to move on. We’re here to stay.”

The five-member board — Haley Huser (President), Marissa Sepeda (Vice President), Brandon Newton (Secretary), and Jennith Peterson (Treasurer) — operates out of a volunteer’s garage. The most urgent need is donations.

“The only limit is our bank account,” Newton said. “If our bank account says we can do it, we’re going to do it. Until the bank account says insufficient funds, that’s going to be our stopping sign.”

Physical donations can be dropped off at Seymour Business Services, 500 Main Street, Suite B. Monetary donations are accepted via PayPal or Venmo at “Kerr County Cares.”