Texas Tornado Recovery: Deer Park High School Raise $13K in ‘The Gospel Show: Tornado Relief Benefit Concert’ for Storm Victims

Deer Park, Texas (KTRK) – Donations from hundreds of people during a hurricane relief concert Sunday will go to the victims in Deer Park.

Students and staff at Deer Park High School perform “The Gospel Show: Tornado Relief Benefit Concert”.

Tickets for the concert were only $5, but the choir director told ABC13 that people were offering much more than that.

All the money will go to the victims who lost a lot from the hurricane.

For 25 years, Deer Park students and staff have performed the gospel show, but this year’s concert was different.

“I had a parent who said, ‘Why don’t the proceeds from the gospel show go to hurricane relief?’ And I said, “Yeah,” said Anita Ladd, choir director at Deer Park High School.

Ladd said the school has raised nearly $13,000 in donations, tickets and merchandise sales.

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The students enjoyed being a part of the show.

“It’s like a small community and everyone is always willing to help, which is the great thing. Everyone is so helpful and caring,” said Aubrey Solis, a Deer Park High School student who performed.

She chose “In Jesus Name” to perform during the Hurricane Relief Concert.

“I pray for your recovery, and I pray that circumstances change, and I do,” Solis said. “I felt like it fit in perfectly with what’s going on here right now.”

Last Tuesday, a tornado with winds of up to 140 miles per hour battered the city, leaving people with nothing and left to start over.

“I’d look around and it would break my heart to see so many, if not all, devastating things I’ve seen in my entire life,” Solis said.

“It hurts,” Ladd said. “I mean, piles of roadside debris and signs are gone, businesses are destroyed, homes are gone. It tugs at your heart.”

Seeing the damage around the city has inspired hundreds of people to give back and help the city get back to the way things were.

“From Tuesday to today, I’m kind of amazed at the cleanup that’s happened so far,” Ladd said. “So, I know the crews are working day and night and people are doing their best. It might take a while, but I know we’ll bounce back better than ever.”

Deer Park students are back in class on Monday.

SEE ALSO: ISD parents at Deer Park say their kids are ‘happy to have a return to normal life’ after classes return