In times of need, Houston restaurants seem to always step up to the plate. They’re the first people ready to help serve hungry Houstonians, and this was especially apparent during Hurricane Beryl.

Two local restaurateurs, Michael Saghian and Riana Sherman, the owners of Houston Catering Concepts, Bagel Shop Bakery, and New York Deli & Coffee Shop, took helping the community one step further. With their catering company, they fed the people who were working to turn the city’s power back on: CenterPoint’s linemen.

“It’s really our way of helping the workers help the city,” Sherman says. “You can’t work if you’re hungry.”

Sherman says the relationship with CenterPoint started thanks in part to the derecho, when the utility company hired them to feed its crew. In the aftermath of the May storm, the team provided more than 20,000 meals to workers who were turning the power back on for Houstonians and businesses that were impacted by the widespread outage. Two months later, with Hurricane Beryl looming over Houston, the catering company began getting calls closer to the storm, asking once again to feed the linemen in case of another power outage.

Sherman and Saghian kicked it into high gear and prepared for the worst. Like many others, the Bagel Shop Bakery and New York Deli & Coffee Shop lost power, but thankfully, their catering facility didn’t.

Had power been lost, there were plans in place to continue the catering, something that was implemented after learning lessons from the derecho. Knowing that CenterPoint was counting on them for catering, Sherman says other disaster-related plans were also put in place to ensure that they would have enough inventory—such as water, Gatorade, and meat—and hands on deck to feed everyone.

Since many places didn’t have power in the hurricane’s aftermath, many deliveries were canceled or paused. But when Saghian communicated to Sysco, their food distributor, that they were working to feed CenterPoint workers, the company sent a 20-pallet trailer with inventory.

With inventory ready, the next biggest thing was ensuring workers were scheduled. There was a team at the catering business readily available around the clock, with people scheduled from 6am to 6pm, then again from 6pm to 6am. Employees from the other two businesses impacted by the power outages also helped feed the linemen. This became a win-win for everyone: not only did this mean more help was available, but these workers were also earning a paycheck, and some even got overtime.

Acknowledging the toll these long hours took on their workers—some of whom still didn’t have power—Sherman and Saghian also booked an Airbnb as an extra precaution to make sure their employees had a place to shower and rest. Sherman says she and Saghian also employed a staffing company, 360 Events, to fill in any gaps on top of their staff of about 100 people, so the operation could remain sustainable.

With all hands on deck, the business was successfully able to serve more than 30,000 meals—lasagna, chimichurri beef tenderloin, and fajitas—to CenterPoint workers throughout the Houston area after Hurricane Beryl.

“We were lucky to do it,” Sherman says. “It was a pleasure for us to do it. The CenterPoint workers are working really hard, and they don’t deserve to not be fed.”