Hurricane Harvey: Mattress Mack turns furniture stores into Harvey shelters - TomoNews
- 7 years ago
HOUSTON — A local businessman has opened up two of his furniture stores to families in need of shelter after Hurricane Harvey.
Jim McIngvale, also known as Mattress Mack, welcomed hundreds of people into his two Gallery Furniture stores on Sunday night after seeing the devastation left by the storm, according to CBS News.
"When the hurricane first hit down here, my thought was this is going to be a one-day event. Then I came into work the next day and I saw the devastation of the entire area and decided it would be best if we opened this 100,000 square-foot furniture store as a shelter," Mack told NPR.
He also sent out trucks into the flood to look for any people in need of a lift.
Mattress Mack now has about 400 people in the two stores, where he's serving them three square meals a day.
"I'm part capitalist and part social worker and this is what I like to do," McIngvale told CBS News.
"I'm worried about these people. I'm worried about the business, I'm worried about the community," he said.
Mack thinks it'll run around $30,000 to $40,000 to keep the stores going through the relief effort.
"We can afford that and what we can't afford is to cause these people to lose hope, we got to give them hope," Mack said. "This is what my parents would have done."
Jim McIngvale, also known as Mattress Mack, welcomed hundreds of people into his two Gallery Furniture stores on Sunday night after seeing the devastation left by the storm, according to CBS News.
"When the hurricane first hit down here, my thought was this is going to be a one-day event. Then I came into work the next day and I saw the devastation of the entire area and decided it would be best if we opened this 100,000 square-foot furniture store as a shelter," Mack told NPR.
He also sent out trucks into the flood to look for any people in need of a lift.
Mattress Mack now has about 400 people in the two stores, where he's serving them three square meals a day.
"I'm part capitalist and part social worker and this is what I like to do," McIngvale told CBS News.
"I'm worried about these people. I'm worried about the business, I'm worried about the community," he said.
Mack thinks it'll run around $30,000 to $40,000 to keep the stores going through the relief effort.
"We can afford that and what we can't afford is to cause these people to lose hope, we got to give them hope," Mack said. "This is what my parents would have done."