Both humans and animals are still feeling the effects of the July 2025 Central Texas floods. To help, KRTU 91.7 FM, Trinity’s radio station, hosted a benefit concert with students and faculty to raise money for Kerrville Pets Alive! (KPA!) on Sept. 6 at the Hoppy Monk. The four hour event drew attendees from Trinity and beyond and raised a total of $1,100.
KRTU collaborated with The Hoppy Monk, a local pub and frequent partner of the radio station, to put on the benefit concert to assist KPA!’s efforts. The Hoppy Monk provided the venue and facilitated a silent auction consisting of items such as box seat tickets to a San Antonio Spurs game and neon bar signs, all donated by their various business partners.
In turn, KRTU provided the musicians. The lineup for the night was DJ JJ Lopez, Dylan Lee, Humiliation Ritual and Collective Dreams. Lee is a senior marketing and communication double-major, Lopez is the general manager for KRTU and Albert Salinas, a guitarist for Collective Dreams, is the operation manager for the communications department. Salinas spoke on why playing this show was important to him and his band.
“We’ve actually done several benefit shows, ranging from suicide prevention to [other] things, … definitely any opportunity to help and spread some other good news,” Salinas said. “You know, that type of thing, we’re all about it, and everything that KRTU does is always something positive, and we’re always happy to be behind it and help them.”
Monica Reina, KRTU’s station manager, first suggested the idea. Though KRTU doesn’t typically fundraise for outside organizations, Reina said she believed that KPA! was too important to ignore.
“Right after the floods, … I was really trying to think of what we could do, and I just thought: benefit concert. I mean, we have a lot of access to musicians. We have the radio station. We can promote it,” Reina said.
The KRTU faculty decided to support KPA!, a nonprofit that partners with Kerr County Animal Services, to find homes and provide resources for animals. In the immediate aftermath of the flood, the volunteer organization was heavily involved with relief efforts — aiding in search and rescue as well as creating a database to match lost and found pets. Two months later, much of that work has subsided, but according to President Karen Guerriero, KPA!’s job is far from over.
“What’s really happening now is more of a crisis … Everybody’s recovering here. So nobody’s adopting animals, and people are surrendering their animals because they can’t afford to take care of them, because they’ve lost their homes,” Guerriero said. “It’s just horrible, because we have not had a problem with euthanizing a lot of animals lately, but now it’s not looking too good. So that’s what we’re dealing with right now is what? How are we going to change gears to try and figure out a place for these animals to go?”
Mylo Mittman, junior communication major, expressed similar sentiments about the importance of benefit concerts. They attended the event to support the cause and their friend, Will Sharp, a saxophone player in Humiliation Ritual and senior communication major.
“With as recent as the floods in Kerrville have been, I think it’s important for us to band together as a community, even if it’s just to create good vibes,” Mittman said.
All proceeds will go to KPA! and their continued flood relief efforts such as caring for animals displaced by the floods and providing free resources and services for local owners. Their goal is to provide not just for animals in need of adoption, but for all the pets and owners in their community.
