Recently, it’s been easier for Trey Ganem to count the hours of sleep he’s had than the hours he’s spent at his shop pouring over every little detail as he customizes caskets and urns for Hill Country flood victims.

“God’s given me this gift to give to the families,” Ganem said. “To see all of that come full circle from start to finish, that’s why I do what I do.”

In 2022, Ganem customized caskets for 19 of the 21 victims at the Robb Elementary School shooting, free of charge for the grieving families. In 2025, after the devastating flood in Kerrville, he’s easing the burden for flood victims’ families and once again donating customized caskets and urns.

“There are tragedies every day, just not in this mass quantity,” Ganem said. “There’s been people who have lost whole families. A young girl called me and she had lost her mom, her dad and two brothers, and now she’s by herself.”

Between trips across the state personally delivering caskets and urns as well as labor and materials to families, Ganem sells taxidermy to keep the lights on at SoulShine Industries. Just this week, Ganem said he sold his boat in order to keep providing his services free for the grieving flood victims’ families.

“Caskets are $3,200 to $3,500 apiece,” Ganem said. “So far, we’ve done 27 caskets and 11 urns.”

To ease the burden off Ganem and the families going through unimaginable suffering, Formosa Plastics’ Sportsmen for Charity Club donated $50,000 to support the ‘Let a Soulshine Foundation.’ 

“This takes a tremendous load off me,” Ganem said. “I’ve been using all my personal stuff to make sure these families were taken care of.”

The Sportsmen for Charity Club is a Formosa Plastics’ employee-based nonprofit that has given back to over 100 organizations in Jackson, Matagorda, Calhoun and Victoria County over the last five years.

“We saw the devastation and we just kept wondering, ‘how can we help?” Victoria Duran, secretary on the board for Formosa Plastics’ Sportsmen for Charity Club, said. “People have been donating supplies up front, but we wanted to help on the back end and help these families get closure.”

Ganem’s phone at SoulShine Industries has been ringing off the hook and he’s been answering every single call. This week, he’s received 342 phone calls from grieving family members looking to create a personalized burial bed for their loved ones, from individuals looking to donate and community members thanking him for his work. 

“Ninety percent of our clientele is children. There’s just nothing out there for them in the funeral industry; there’s no color,” Ganem said. “People don’t understand that this is what we do on a day-to-day basis, not just for large-scale calamities. There are little kids with cancer and accidental drownings.”

How does one capture the bright life of a bubbly child in a 30-to 60-inch casket? Ganem said it comes down to spending time with the family, learning about the deceased and even a little bit of intuition.

“The family might be a little hesitant at first, but as soon as they start talking about their loved one, you can hear a little spark in their voice and we look at how we can incorporate what they loved,” Ganem said. “Sometimes a family will walk up to a casket and sit there for hours, talking about their loved one. They see the personality of their loved ones reflected in the casket and they start to recall all these great memories. That’s where I can see how what I do helps these families.”

Ganem’s caskets have gone all over the state, having been loaded on trailers and vans and some of his customized caskets even catching airplane rides across the country. 

“I’ve heard so many stories, families just pour their heart out to me. I try not to take it home with me, but it’s a shadow that follows me. Helping these families means everything to me. I’m stepping out on faith. We’re trying to bring the light into a dark time; that changes everything.”

The death toll continues to climb as search and rescue missions turn into a recovery effort in the Hill Country. The families of those still missing are already calling Ganem to create customized urns. 

“Calls are still trickling in from loved ones. They’re just waiting for their loved ones to be found,” Ganem said. “All the orders we should be getting now are cremations. Their loved ones have been exposed to the elements for so long.”

To donate to Ganem’s Let a Soulshine Foundation, please visit givebutter.com to support SoulShine Industries’ mission.

Madison O’Hara is a news reporter for the Victoria Advocate. She can be reached at madison.ohara@vicad.com.