Hurricane Harvey was not only one of the worst natural disasters in Texas history, but it was an opportunity for kind hearted people to stand up. Countless private citizens took to the flooded streets to help their fellow man and many volunteered in various ways, but there was one company that stood out as a prime example of a business dedicated to its customers: Gallery Furniture. Jim “Mattress Mack” McIngvale, the owner and founder of the company, garnered fame from across the globe when he opened up his stores as shelters for those who were flooded or evacuated out of their homes and had nowhere to go. He has been hailed as a hero amongst Houstonians, some even calling for a statue to be made in his honor for his selfless acts during the devastating time.

“Mac is the real deal,” Gallery Furniture Sales Associate and former Seven Lakes student Dusty Vandenberg said.  “A lot of people think that he just puts on a personality. No, that’s him. He’s on all the time. The man is the hardest working person I have ever met. He says work is life’s greatest therapy, and he firmly believes it. I thought he was crazy the first time I heard it, but now if I take off more than a couple of days off work, I have to get back. Not that many people are excited to get back to work, but I am because I trust the man I’m working for and I believe in what we’re doing for the community.”

Gallery Furniture has not been the only company that has been helping those affected by Harvey.

“Companies like Home Depot have donated cleaning supplies (such as mops, buckets, clorox, pine sol) that people need to clean out their home. We have been passing those things at North Freeway off to a lot of folks in this areas that have flooded,” Vandenburg said.

Many across the Houston area and abroad have come to the aid of those affected by the storm.

“It’s not just cleaning supplies; University of Houston’s basketball coach Kelvin Sampson sent out a challenge to teams across the country to see who could donate. Louisville donated 10 pairs of shoes, then Kentucky donated 15 and it kinda became an arms race to see who could donate even more,” Vandenburg said.

Some have asked why Gallery Furniture came out in support of the victims of Harvey. Even though many companies gave their support through donations, Gallery Furniture decided to serve their community in a way they thought was only fair.

“We have the trucks, we have the manpower, and we’re here for our community. I’ve had a lot of customers come up and tell me the reason they bought from us is because of what we did for those people that lost their homes and are using Gallery Furniture as a shelter. We are only able to do that because people in the community have come and spent their money at Gallery Furniture and that’s given us the ability to host people. That’s why when a customer arrives, I say thank you for supporting Gallery Furniture, because if it wasn’t for customers buying furniture, we wouldn’t have the money to host people at our store, so it’s really the customers who allow us to do these things. Mattress Mac tells us everyday that it’s our job to take care of the customer; the customers come first.”

Trust with the community has been an integral part of Gallery Furniture’s relief efforts. Without it, they could not have done a fraction of what they did to assist, nor could they survive as a company in the city of Houston.

“A lot of times we have to make a delivery to a house, and we can’t get through the door, so we have to remove their whole window, and a lot of times people aren’t gonna be comfortable with that, so our drivers will say,” Vandenburg said. “Give us one percent of your trust and we’ll earn the other 99. That’s what we do everyday because we’re all about doing things that other companies aren’t willing to do. We’re all about building relationships with the community, and that’s what Gallery Furniture is here for. Mattress Mac says that we need freedom to shape our future and profit to remain free. We don’t shy away from saying that we make a profit, because that’s the reason why we’re able to all these great things for the community. A lot of people think that profit is a bad word, but we have a huge marquee sign in front of our store on North Freeway that says we need freedom to shape our future and we need profit to remain free. Because of that, we’re able to take care of all these people.”