donations after the deadly 2025 flooding says has received less than $1 million dollars in relief donations in the wake of this summer’s flooding.
Austin Dickson, CEO of the Community Foundation of the Texas Hill Country, said Thursday that the organization has received $750,000 in donations since the July 16 flooding, a fraction of the millions that rolled in after the 2025 natural disaster.
Dickson said the foundation this summer hasn’t heard from as many corporations interested in donating, and said fewer volunteers have stepped forward to assist Kerr County’s recovery after the latest natural disaster.
The 2025 flooding, which killed 119 people in Kerr County and more than 130 statewide, “had the attention of the country and the world for a sustained period of time,” Dickson said.
“I think that the funds we raised last year and this year are a good barometer of kind of where people’s attention is,” he said.
The much smaller death toll this year — three deaths were attributed to flooding statewide in July — has likely played a role in the decline in donations, Dickson said.
Kerr County and other flood-affected Texas counties are also waiting for approval of a federal disaster declaration. President Donald Trump signed a disaster declaration just two days after the 2025 flooding struck, but that was much faster than the norm due to the significant loss of life and the number of people who were missing. This year’s request seems to be following the typical timeframe for the Trump administration.
Approval of a disaster declaration could include access to Public Assistance, a Federal Emergency Management Agency grant program that provides money for restoring infrastructure, including roads, bridges, public buildings and utilities. State officials also asked for activation of the U.S. Small Business Administration Disaster Loan Program; at least 100 businesses in Kerr County have reported flood damage.
More than 800 homes were also in Kerr County alone, according to data collected by the Community Foundation of the Texas Hill Country, and other counties, including Uvalde and Kendall, also experienced major flooding.
“We are so grateful that it was not more, but the flood this time damaged more properties across the region than it did last year,” Dickson said.
Donations for a specific disaster can’t be easily used for other purposes, Dickson said, but some grantees have given the foundation written permission to do so. About $20 million has been reallocated as aid for this year’s flood, Dickson said.
The foundation announced $18 million in funding commitments for flood recovery in late July, with $11.3 million for housing repair and rebuilding efforts in Kerr County. Another $5 million went to San Antonio-based nonprofit LiftFund, which will provide grants to small businesses.
Funds in action
Dickson said the foundation is working on a plan to best assist people affected by this year’s flooding.
“You can either help less people, or you can help more people with less things, and that is a conversation we’re having as we look at available funds and the ever-growing need across the region and in the community,” Dickson said.
On Thursday, the foundation said it has made a $94,000 donation to Boerne-based nonprofit Hill Country Family Services, intended to assist families in Kendall and Bandera counties. The grant is part of a $1.6 million donation to four Hill Country nonprofits.
Comfort, a community along the Guadalupe River at the border of Kerr and Kendall counties, was hit hard by the floods. Boerne flooded due to heavy rains on July 15. The Medina River rose in Bandera County as well, closing roads and forcing evacuations.
Dickson said Hill Country Family Services will decide how much money to allocate to for each request for help. He said 39 families have received assistance from the organization to date.
Hill Country Family Services executive director Bryce Boddie said the nonprofit is helping cover the basics for families.
Last year, Hill Country Family Services was overflowing with donations, Boddie said. This year is “not even close.”
“We had some damage (last year), obviously, in the Comfort area. But nothing like it was this time,” he said. “We’re having older adults from Comfort asking questions like, ‘Who’s going to help rebuild now that I don’t have any walls in my house?’ That’s the next question that we’re trying to coordinate with groups out of Kerrville
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