
By Ruth Ann Ruiz
The Post Newspaper Features Editor
If we blink, before we know it, 41 years have been lived, and what we have to show for those years are memories and history. Vice Chair of Lighthouse Charity Team (LHCT), Horacene Daugrid, took the time to take me on a walk down memory lane. She shared recollections of the non-profit organizations her and her late husband Dick Daugrid founded.
The year was 1984, she shared, and Dick was operating his insurance business in his newly built lighthouse building in Friendswood.
“Dick wanted something unique and different for his building,” Horacene explained. “He was a swimmer, and he fished. He got all his muscle and brawns from his swimming. He loved the water. That’s why he decided to design the building like a lighthouse.”
According to Horacene, representatives from the Muscular Dystrophy (MD) telethon program asked her husband if he knew of a building space for hosting their upcoming telethon.

Well, Dick didn’t know of any other building than his own, so he opened up the doors of his newly built lighthouse insurance office, and in came the phones and all the staff to manage the phones for the bay region.
The way Mrs. Daugrid tells the story, neither she nor her husband had a clue about fundraising at that time. But they did know how to attract and entertain people. Both were accustomed to cooking for a group, so during the telethon, they brought down their barbeque and started cooking and serving the volunteers and anybody else who stopped in.
Before they knew it, firemen were outside on the side of the road collecting money for MD with their boots, and a TV was set up outside so people could watch the show.
Then the next year, the three-day telethon production came back, and the Daugrids had added more entertainment on the outside — drill teams and musicians, and of course, fresh barbeque meals for everyone.
“It’s the tantalizing food that attracts people to a fundraiser,” Horacene explained.
What was to be an indoor phone bank grew and grew through the years to include several barbeque pits, tents and outdoor seating.
Out of these experiences was born a unique nonprofit that provides a team of volunteer chefs, cooks, grill experts, clean-up staff and any other type of team member needed to get good food served. The LHCT charges nothing for the labor or the equipment it provides to whomever it assists. It charges only for the cost of the food.
Initially, the team was organized out of their lighthouse building in Friendswood. Then, as the charity grew, the team expanded by adding more buildings and adding mobile kitchens and pickup trucks filled with cooking essentials — all painted in the organization’s well-known red and white with silver trim. In addition, the team even provides things such as paper goods, as well as salt-and-pepper.
Horacene showed me photos of a young boy who gives a face to what the team does. She and her husband met the boy after he was diagnosed with a type of leukemia.
“We provided the food for his fundraiser back when he was just a little boy,” Horacene shared. “Well, we were out at another fundraiser years later, and he came up and tugged on Dick and introduced himself. Then he came up to Dick when he was much older and tapped him on the shoulder and said hello again. Dick always said he was one of our success stories.”
The real draw for fundraisers are silent auctions she shared.
“People won’t pay a lot for a meal, but they will pay for something they can take with them, but If you don’t have good food, people won’t come to a fundraiser,” Mrs. Daugrid said.
Based on personal experience, I can testify that the food prepared by the LHCT is very good. I’d say even tantalizing.
Sometimes the LHCT is called on to feed people in a disaster situation. During Hurricane Beryl recovery, they were called on to provide meals in Dickinson high school’s basketball court which was being used for temporary shelter.
After Hurricane Ike, team members were asked to cook for Galvestonians who had come back to the island to clean up and rebuild.
It was after Hurricane Ike that LHCT moved its headquarters to Galveston. As Mrs Daugrid tells the story, Del Papa Distributors provides the building space at 6918 Broadway St., which is within view of the causeway, making for easy access to the rest of the county.
LHCT is a countywide nonprofit serving where they are called upon throughout Galveston County.
The LHCT team built an industrial-style kitchen inside the warehouse once used for Del Papa’s. They organized the building so that it could hold all the equipment. The equipment includes the previously mentioned mobile kitchens and pickups, as well as commercial-grade freezers and refrigerators. The warehouse also contains boardrooms and a meeting room.
It’s in the meeting room that team members come together almost every Monday evening for a meal prepared by a member of the team and some fellowship with each other. These meetings serve to allow team members to discuss future events.
The space also hosts Blue Santa’s workshop during the Christmas holiday season. Blue Santa volunteers put together bicycles, doll houses and other toys for young boys and girls.
Inside the meeting room is a recently acquired piano. One wish Mrs. Daugrid has is that someone with a talent for piano playing join their team of cooks and chefs. She also has a wish for more team members and more sponsors/donors to keep the LHCT living its motto of “People Helping People” by providing meals when needed.
If you decide to join the team as a volunteer, you’ll find a warm environment inside the huge warehouse space. Horacene keeps the meeting room decorated with décor that reflects the season, and she keeps her ready smile and friendly greeting going for all who stop in and just want to peek or want to be involved.
Coming up Saturday, February 1, 2025 is LHCT’s Mardi Gras Casino Night Fundraiser. Tickets to enjoy an evening of tantalizing LHCT food, along with casino games and a silent auction are only $100.
For more information, visit: https://lighthousecharityteam.com/.