I was born and raised in Houston, Texas. It’s a place where winding creeks, streams, rivers, and bayous meander along with the streets. It’s a place that sprawls far and wide and provides a home for one of the most diverse populations of people in the country. And though I like to lovingly liken its climate to an armpit, the nearly year round warm and humid conditions allow farmers to have a year round growing season. It’s unique, it’s bold, and it’s my hometown and current residence.
Unless you’ve been living in a cave with no wifi, you know Houston and many coastal Texas towns are in the middle of recovering from catastrophic weather due to Hurricane Harvey. While towns like Rockport, Port Aransas, and Corpus Christi were pummeled and nearly destroyed by category 4 hurricane winds, places like the greater Houston area, Galveston, and Beaumont got pounded with unprecedented amounts of rain. In Houston alone, one area received 50 inches of rain in the span of about 5 days. To put that into perspective, our average yearly rainfall in Houston is about 50 inches.
My family and I are incredibly lucky to not have sustained any damage but many were not so fortunate. Some homes were covered in seven feet of water. Yes, you read that right, SEVEN. The last I checked, over 30,000 people are displaced and staying in shelters scattered across the city. Most arrived with whatever they had on their backs and nothing else. No clothes, no food, and no home. It is my goal with this post to offer any of my readers a resource for giving. If you want to be involved, but can’t physically get out and do so, I’ll leave you with many links for reputable organizations to donate to. And if you wouldn’t mind, keep the state of Texas in your thoughts because we’ve got a long road of recovery ahead of us.
+ Donate to the Hurricane Harvey Relief Fund. Established by our mayor, the funds will go directly towards helping victims affected by the recent floods.
+ Donate to the Houston Food Bank. Just one single dollar can provide 3 meals. Another option is the Central Texas Food Bank.
+ Diapers are often forgotten in terms of donations. If you’d like to help out our young ones, give to the Texas Diaper Bank.
+ Donate to Circle of Health International. They will be providing assistance to mothers and children affected by Harvey.
+ Football fan? Or, JJ Watt fan? He started his own fundraiser for his adopted city to help out flood victims. Donate here.
And Don’t Forget about our furry friends! Here’s some ways to help them out:
+ Donate to Austin Pets Alive . This organization is taking in displaced animals from the hurricane. If you’re local to the Austin area, head here to see what items they are in need of or go volunteer your time.
+ Purchase items off the Houston Humane Society’s Amazon wish list. By purchasing these items for them it allows them to provide care for all of the displaced animals coming in after the hurricane.
+ Donate to Friends For Life. This no-kill animal shelter in Houston is also caring for displaced animals from the hurricane.
Have any more organizations you want me to add to the list? Leave me a link in the comments 🙂
