This Fort Worth billionaire sent $100,000 to a small South Texas community. Here’s why
Some coastal businesses still struggling to recover from Hurricane Harvey are getting some help from Fort Worth billionaire Ed Bass and his wife, Sasha.
The couple donated $100,000 to be used as grants in Rockport, about 30 miles northeast of Corpus Christi, to help small businesses still dealing with fallout from the 2017 storm that devastated much of the community.
Businesses in Rockport’s Cultural Arts District can apply for grants ranging from $1,000 to $7,000 to help keep their doors open.
“We are grateful to Sasha and Ed Bass for investing in the small businesses in our district,” said Jennifer Day, president of the cultural arts district board. “This is a very generous and much needed donation.”
As many as 30 of the estimated 100 businesses in the Cultural Arts District may be chosen for help.
This comes as Rockport and other beach-side communities have yet to fully recover from Harvey, which slammed into the Coastal Bend before dumping more than 50 inches of rain on Houston in just a few days.
Business owners have until March 6 to apply online for grant money.
The Bass family has deep ties to the Coastal Bend, particularly because of a small island — known as San Jose or St. Jo — not far from Rockport.
The bulk of the private island, which can only be reached by ferry, is closed to the public, but people may explore as much of the beaches there as they’d like.
Sid Richardson bought this island in the 1930s and built a house there, where he ultimately entertained politicians, including Presidents Dwight D. Eisenhower and Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Richardson’s heirs, the Bass family, now own the island.
“The Bass and Richardson families have an 80-year history with the people of Rockport and Aransas County,” Ed Bass, who serves on the board of directors of the Sid W. Richardson Foundation, told The Rockport Pilot last year. “When Harvey devastated this community we love, we wanted to help.”
Bass’ comments last year came after the Sid Richardson and Bass foundations joined the effort to help Rockport get Little League fields back into playable shape last year.
This story was originally published February 25, 2019 at 12:21 PM.
