2026 Community Builder of the Year
- Current Custom Homes
- Jul 14
- 4 min read
Updated: Jul 15
Dustin Current was honored and humbled to receive the 2026 Community Builder of the Year Award, presented by Lake Victor Lodge at the Jackson Street Jams Cory Morrow Concert Half-Time Show in May in Burnet Texas. Each year, one recipient is selected in recognition of exceptional service to Burnet County and the surrounding communities—someone whose leadership, compassion, and commitment have helped strengthen and better the region.
For Dustin, this award is not an individual accomplishment. It represents the extraordinary response of hundreds of volunteers, flood victims, churches, businesses, nonprofit organizations, recovery groups, and community leaders who came together following the devastating floods across Central Texas. And those Organizations deserve to be recognized for the incredible effort, below.
A Grassroots Recovery Effort
In the immediate aftermath of the flooding, Dustin helped lead a grassroots recovery effort serving victims throughout Burnet, Bertram, Liberty Hill, Lampasas, Marble Falls, San Saba, Point Venture, Lago Vista, and many other surrounding communities.
At the height of the response, volunteers were working at approximately 20 active recovery locations each day, ultimately assisting at roughly 200+ properties in total.
The number of people arriving to help was extraordinary. Volunteer teams were often able to clean out and gut an entire property in only half a day. At one location alone, 245 volunteers showed up in a single day to help a family begin the recovery process.
Together, volunteers removed flood-damaged materials, gutted homes to the studs, cleared debris, recovered photographs and irreplaceable belongings, coordinated equipment and supplies, distributed meals and water, raised funds, prayed with families, and helped victims begin rebuilding their lives.
This Was a Time for Service
From the beginning, this community believed this was not a time for profit—it was a time for service.
Homes were destroyed, families were displaced, lives were lost and buried under 30' of dirt, and entire communities were grieving. The immediate priority was not business. It was helping people take the first steps toward recovery.
Contractors, business owners, churches, organizations, and volunteers put aside their normal schedules and personal interests to meet the needs directly in front of them. Equipment, labor, meals, supplies, funding, and countless hours were contributed because families needed help—not because anyone expected recognition or financial gain.
The work was physically exhausting and emotionally difficult, but people continued showing up because serving their neighbors was what mattered most.
Victims Becoming Volunteers
One of the most humbling parts of the response was watching flood victims become volunteers themselves.
Families whose own homes had flooded would work until their property was cleaned out and placed in a safe, drying condition. Then, rather than stopping to rest, they would walk next door and begin breaking their backs to help a neighbor do the same.
People who had lost nearly everything still found the strength to serve someone else.
That spirit of selflessness became one of the defining parts of the recovery effort. Neighbors helped neighbors. Strangers became friends. Entire communities worked side by side without concern for recognition, background, church affiliation, or personal circumstance.
During Gatorade and water breaks, volunteers frequently gathered for group prayer. Tears flowed as people prayed for the victims, the missing, grieving families, volunteers, and the healing of every community affected.
Those moments reminded everyone that the work was about far more than removing drywall and carrying debris. It was about standing beside people during one of the most painful moments of their lives and reminding them that they were not alone.
Organizations Working Together
The recovery effort was strengthened by organizations and businesses that provided volunteers, meals, supplies, equipment, financial assistance, disaster-relief experience, and boots-on-the-ground support.
Organizations that deserve Recognition in this Community in the broader response include:
XLR8 Burnet - Fundraised Countless Funds for ALL efforts during the Recovery
Sheep Dog Impact Assistance - Send 50 Veterans for all Labor Efforts, Fundraised Rebuild
Convoy of Hope - National Resources
Elevate Church - An amazing movement on all Fronts
Doyle Electric - Personal Countless hours and Funds/Dumpsters while Trash was an issue
H-E-B Burnet
The Draft Burnet
The efforts of The Ark of the Highland Lakes were simply amazing. In addition to supporting the broader recovery effort with coordinating volunteers and receiving submissions for help from victims, the organization provided meals 3x a day to thousands of volunteers who were spending long, physically demanding days cleaning homes and properties.
Local churches, Christian ministries, contractors, private businesses, community organizations, and local governments also played integral roles throughout the recovery.
No single individual or organization could have met the enormous need alone. It took people from across Central Texas and beyond working together—often without recognition—to provide hope and practical assistance to families facing unimaginable loss.
“Here Am I. Send Me.”
On the morning of the floods, Dustin drove into town while hearing reports about the missing girls and the tragedy unfolding at Camp Mystic.
As the father of three girls, he was overwhelmed with gratitude that his daughters were safe at home while other families were experiencing unimaginable loss.
In that moment, he prayed the words of Isaiah 6:8:
“Here am I. Send me.”
The Lord answered that prayer—but He did not send only one person. He sent hundreds.
Hundreds of volunteers showed up day after day, ready to enter damaged homes, carry out ruined belongings, operate equipment, distribute supplies, prepare meals, raise money, pray with families, and help victims believe recovery was possible.
Receiving the 2026 Community Builder of the Year Award is an incredible honor, but Dustin views it as recognition of a much larger community—a community that showed up, worked together, prayed together, cried together, and brought hope into an extraordinarily difficult season.
This award belongs to the hundreds of volunteers and to every victim, church, business, organization, community leader, and individual who answered the call and helped Central Texas begin rebuilding.
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