Help for Uvalde

Texas grocery chain donates $10 million to rebuild Uvalde's Robb Elementary School

H-E-B is supporting the people of Uvalde.

Courtesy rendering

After the school shooting in Uvalde last month, H-E-B did what it's become known for: stepping up to help Texans in need. Beyond giving $500,000 to victims and their families, the San-Antonio based grocery chain deployed its disaster relief trucks to the South Texas town to provide meals, supplies, and further recovery resources in partnership with local nonprofits for the people of Uvalde.

Now, the company is pledging $10 million to help rebuild Robb Elementary, where the massacre took place.

Built in the 1960s, the elementary school serves approximately 538 students in grades two through four. The school has been permanently closed since the events on May 25, 2022, and plans are in place to demolish the building so that no students or staff ever have to return to the site of the tragedy.

In a news release, the Butt family and H-E-B said they will commit $10 million to help build a new elementary campus in Uvalde. Longtime supporters of public education, the Butt family and H-E-B will work as founding donors with other stakeholders and organizations on the development of this project.

Texas firms Huckabee and Joeris General Contractors, which are also founding donors, have also made generous commitments to donate their services and time to this project, which will help the children, families, staff and Uvalde CISD community move forward together.

“Our first store in Uvalde opened in 1959, and Uvalde people are our people,” said Charles Butt, H-E-B’s chairman, in the release. “As we continue to mourn tremendous loss, I join with my family and H-E-B in working to ensure the Uvalde community can move forward from this tragic event. Our children are this country’s future, and our schools should be a safe place where children can thrive and envision new possibilities.”

According to the release, the new campus will significantly enhance educational offerings, implementing state-of-the-art safety and security measures and infrastructure to support the availability of new technology. The location and design of the new campus and timeline for the project have not been determined, but the school district will work closely with the Uvalde community, donors, and other stakeholders to solicit ideas and gather feedback for the project.

Additional contributions to support this project can be made by donating to the Uvalde CISD Moving Forward Foundation, a nonprofit charitable organization established to both raise funds for the new elementary campus and support the immediate and ongoing financial needs of Uvalde CISD. Donations can be made by visiting UvaldeCISDMovingForward.org.

"We will never forget those who were senselessly taken from us on that tragic day," says Uvalde CISD Superintendent Dr. Hal Harrell on the Moving Forward website. " ... we want to honor their legacy as we work to build our future."

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Daring to care

Kindhearted Plano ranks among the 10 most caring cities in America

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Plano is one of the happiest and most caring places to be.

Plano has some of the kindest, most generous residents in the country. So says a new report that ranks the Dallas suburb the No. 10 most caring city in the United States.

The personal finance website WalletHub compared 100 of the most populated U.S. cities across 38 metrics across three key dimensions for its study, "Most Caring Cities in America (2025)". They include caring for the local community, caring for the vulnerable, and caring in the workforce.

The north Dallas suburb made a big leap over its 2023 ranking as the No. 17 most caring American city.

Out of the three main categories, Plano performed the best for its "caring for the community" rank (No. 8), which was determined based on the city's crime rates, the civic engagement of its residents, the share of a household's income donated to charity, and more.

Plano also cares for its community in other ways, whether it's through maintaining its long-held family-friendly reputation or by maintaining a pristine park system. All of these reasons contribute to why so many people are choosing to live in the second-happiest city in the nation.

Plano also ranked fairly well in the overall "caring for the vulnerable" category (No. 12), which covers child and adult poverty rates, adoption rates, availability of paid family leave, the number of rehab centers per capita, pet shelters and rescue services, and the "disability-friendliness" of employers.

Plano still has plenty of work to do when it comes to caring for its workforce, however, as the city ranked No. 71 out of all 100 U.S. cities. This metric focused on the number of first responders, healthcare professionals, teachers, and counselors per capita.

WalletHub analyst Chip Lupo says there are many factors that make cities like Plano a true "caring" and supportive place for its residents.

"The most caring cities donate a lot of money to charity and have high volunteer rates, but being a caring city overall requires much more than just giving time or money," Lupo said. "In addition, the top cities have low crime rates, environmentally-friendly residents and low rates of poverty and homelessness."

But small steps are important, too. Community care is as simple as helping an elderly neighbor unload groceries from their car, keeping a vigilant eye out for porch pirates or suspicious activity, and spending quality time with loved ones.

Plano was once again the highest ranked Texas city in WalletHub's list. Other North Texas cities that earned spots in the report include Irving (No. 36), Garland (No. 39), Fort Worth (No. 54), Arlington (No. 58), and Dallas (No. 77).

Elsewhere in Texas, Austin ranked No. 45, while San Antonio (No. 89) and Houston (No. 91) barely skirted onto the list.

The top 10 most caring U.S. cities, according to WalletHub, are:

No. 1 – Virginia Beach, Virginia
No. 2 – Scottsdale, Arizona
No. 3 – Boston, Massachusetts
No. 4 – Gilbert, Arizona
No. 5 – Chesapeake, Virginia
No. 6 – Fremont, California
No. 7 – San Diego, California
No. 8 – Madison, Wisconsin
No. 9 – Colorado Springs, Colorado
No. 10 – Plano, Texas

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