How To Help Hurricane Harvey Survivors
Here's a long list of ways you can help with disaster relief after Hurricane Harvey even if you can't physically be in the affected areas. It's not recommended to visit Houston and surrounding areas unless absolutely necessary. Information is such an important resource which is why I'm putting together this mostly comprehensive list of ways to get involved. There are tons of ways to donate funds to help hurricane survivors. It will takes years to recover from this devastating natural disaster. Wishing everyone safety through these trying times! Read on...
Food Donations
Local food banks: The Houston Press has compiled a list of food banks in the affected area, including Houston Food Bank, Galveston County Food Bank, Southeast Texas Food Bank, and more. They recommend contacting a food bank directly about their need and what you can do.
Houston Food Bank
832-369-9390
houstonfoodbank.org
Galveston Food Bank
409-945-4232
galvestoncountyfoodbank.org
Food Bank of the Golden Crescent (Victoria)
361-578-0591
victoriafoodbank.org
Closed Friday
Southeast Texas Food Bank (Beaumont)
409-839-8777
setxfoodbank.org
Food Bank of the Rio Grande Valley (Pharr)
956-682-8101
foodbankrgv.com
Brazos Valley Food Bank (Bryan)
979-779-3663
bvfb.org
Central Texas Food Bank (Austin)
512-282-2111
centraltexasfoodbank.org
San Antonio Food Bank
210-337-3663
safoodbank.org
To Help Hurricane Harvey Survivors
Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner established a Harvey relief fund at The Greater Houston Community Foundation.
You can donate to the Houston Flood Relief Fund. Celebrity football star JJ Watt set up a fundraiser through YouCaring and set a goal of $200,000. Within two hours, that goal had been met, so Watt raised it to $500,000. At this moment it's surpassed expectations and is currently at $5 million!
The Red Cross is in urgent need of volunteers across Central Texas. Go online to donate or apply to volunteer in the area. Donate or sign up to volunteer on the website. You can also text ‘HARVEY’ to 90999 to donate $10 to the American Red Cross.
Please consider donating to SFFMA today. The firefighters of Texas and volunteer fire departments across the state who are currently responding to Hurricane Harvey rescue operations and clean up are faced with many challenges including shortages of funding, support, and emergency responders. 100% of these proceeds go directly to a fund that will be used for immediate relief.
If you have a boat or a safe high-water vehicle, the Harris County Sheriff’s Office wants your help; the office put out a call on Twitter for residents to help with rescues. Call 713-881-3100 to help.
United Way of Greater Houston has launched a relief fund for storm-related needs and recovery. The organization says it already maintains a disaster relief fund but anticipates the needs of Harvey will far exceed those existing resources.
Portlight Strategies is working to help to help older adults and those with disabilities. Donate here.
Facebook, Google, and other tech giants are matching every dollar raised, up to $1 million in total, for recovery efforts as a result of Hurricane Harvey. You can donate here and here.
Apple is making it easy for users to donate to the Red Cross via its iTunes page, which now features buttons for donating between $5 and $200. The money is transferred directly to the American Red Cross from iTunes.
The Houston Coalition for the Homeless is facilitating shelter for homeless people in Houston, including offering up-to-date information about which shelters currently have space.
Harvey relief fund managed by the Texas Organizing Project, SEIU, TRLA and other groups focused on assisting the most marginalized Texans.
The Salvation Army is providing food and water to first responders and preparing for massive feeding efforts for residents. Donations to support Hurricane Harvey relief efforts can be made by calling 1-800-SAL-ARMY.
Carter BloodCare covers hospitals in north, central and east Texas. To donate, call 877-571-1000 or text DONATE4LIFE to 444-999.
Austin Pets Alive is taking in strays from Harvey zones.
Go to one of the qualifying Austin restaurants that give a portion of proceeds to disaster aid relief.
GoFundMe has curated a list of Harvey relief efforts, with fundraisers for individual cities, families and homes.
Individuals and corporations can donate to hurricane relief efforts through the Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster.
Help teachers in affected school districts rebuild their classrooms.
Volunteers can sign up for trips to the affected area through organizations like Samaritan’s Purse, Coastal Bend Disaster Recovery Group and Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster.
If you’re in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, you can register to help at shelters through the Mass Care Task Force. The Mass Care Task Force is a collaboration between the American Red Cross North Texas Region, The Salvation Army DFW Metroplex Command, the North Texas Food Bank and VolunteerNow.
You can volunteer to help at Central Texas Food Bank. Donate online or in-person with ready-to-eat goods such as canned fruits, vegetables, and meats to help feed hurricane evacuees.
Donate some of your time by becoming a volunteer to aid in clean up, meal prep, and more through Austin Disaster Relief Network.
The Houston Humane Society is helping marshal care and shelter for pets in the area. You can give here. The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals of Texas is undertaking similar efforts. You can give here. The San Antonio Humane Society is doing the same. More here.
The Texas Diaper Bank, which is based out of San Antonio, is putting together relief kit for families with very small children who need access to clean diapers in the midst of flooding and evacuations.
Direct Relief USA offers prescription drugs and other medical supplies to those who need it in emergency situations, and works with clinics and primary care doctors to ensure that people are able to get what they need when they need it.
If you have extra space to house fellow Texans in need, offer your space for free through Airbnb. The site is also waiving service fees for evacuees seeking housing through Sept. 1.
Global Giving is trying to raise $2 million to help those affected by the storm. As of this writing, they’ve raised $43,000, but the campaign had just launched. The organization provides food, gas, clean water, hygiene products, and shelter in the short-term, and then funnels the remaining resources to local organizations to facilitate long-term recovery.
The South Texas Blood & Tissue Center desperately needs more than 2,000 units of blood. A list of locations to donate blood can be found here.
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Sources:
http://www.texasmonthly.com/the-daily-post/ways-can-help-people-hurricane-harvey/
https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2017/8/27/16211642/hurricane-harvey-donations-charities-disaster-relief
https://www.texastribune.org/2017/08/28/hurricane-harvey-relief-efforts-how-help/
https://austin.eater.com/2017/8/28/16214812/hurricane-harvey-houston-austin-restaurants
http://www.austinmonthly.com/Austin-Amplified/August-2017/15-Ways-to-Help-Hurricane-Harvey-Relief-in-Austin/
http://www.bostonmagazine.com/news/blog/2017/08/28/help-hurricane-harvey/
http://www.cnn.com/2017/08/25/health/iyw-harvey-how-to-help/index.html
http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/08/28/546745827/looking-to-help-those-affected-by-harvey-here-s-a-list
https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/talkingtech/2017/08/29/google-amazon-facebook-match-3-m-harvey-donations/613790001/
http://abc13.com/weather/how-to-help-the-victims-of-hurricane-harvey/2348094/
