COLLEYVILLE, Texas — It all started with a post on the Fort Worth Foodies Facebook page at 8:22 a.m. Tuesday.
A woman who works at Ellery Arbor Memory Care in Colleyville wrote: “We have no power, heat or hot water. Employees have been sleeping here for a couple days to make sure the residents are safe and taken care of but nobody has had a hot meal. Obviously, I want everyone to stay safe but just thought if there was a truck close by they might be willing to come out.”
Phil Tullis saw the Facebook post. He and his wife own The Cajun Market on Colleyville Boulevard.
The Cajun Market is not a food truck. But that didn’t stop Tullis.
“We just come from a culture that when there's a need, you jump in. No questions asked,” Tullis said. “Just go get it done.”
Tullis heated up gumbo, red beans, and rice – “five gallons, I think, of each” – and drove the 3.5 miles from his restaurant to the memory care facility to drop them off.
He also said nearby restaurants quickly reached out to him, asking what they could do to help.
"If you're a business, you don't just take," Tullis said. "You give back to a community."
Ellery Arbor Memory Care released the following statement:
“We are beyond thankful to The Cajun Market for their donation of food to our Memory Care community. Our associates are working relentlessly to best serve our senior living residents and to keep them safe and warm as we continue to weather the winter storm. We’ve been amazed to see how the Colleyville community is working together in unity and selflessly donating what they can for the best interest of our citizens. We are truly humbled and know that we will all get through this together.”
Tuesday also happens to be Fat Tuesday, or Mardi Gras.
Unfortunately, due to the weather and the pandemic, the Louisiana restaurant in Colleyville couldn’t do a big celebration.
But Tullis and his wife still managed to make today special.
“Yeah, this will be a special Mardi Gras -- that you could help somebody that needed help,” Tullis said.