On My Mind: How To Help

rainfall totals from tropical storm Harvey

I’ll admit, the past couple of days I’ve had trouble focusing on anything aside from the devastating storm in Texas and parts of Louisiana. This may be the worst natural disaster in Texas’ history. The images of flooding are just mind-boggling. I have friends in Texas and used to travel to Houston on business. The people there are some of the nicest and friendliest I’ve met anywhere. My heart just breaks for them.

If you want to help, here are some organizations that have been recommended. From what I’ve been reading, aid may be needed for several weeks or even months, so you may want to consider setting up a monthly donation.

If you know of any other charitable organizations in the area accepting donations for Hurricane Harvey relief, please share in comments. Thanks!

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18 Comments

  1. Susan, thank you so very much for this post. I live in Austin Texas, and we are heart sick for our neighbors. The agencies you posted are all excellent choices. The day Harvey hit we heard that our animal shelter had taken in 200 additional dogs and cats, and that was just from people fleeing the coast. Houston did not evacuate, but I suspect we will be hosting many many of them now that they are under water. Austin Disaster Relief is another excellent agency. Check out their work at adrn.org
    God Bless you!
    Sharon

  2. We are Houstonians, in Santa Fe, NM, until Friday. A friend is staying with us since the airports are closed. Her 89 year-old mother’s house flooded during the last night. Her former mother-in-law was rescued on a raft. They both live in homes that never flooded before. Another friend has 8″ of water in their home and can’t go anywhere. Fortunately our home is in a high-rise and OK. The hospital where my husband worked for 30+ years closed and evacuated all patients yesterday. Truly heartbreaking for us to watch. Knowing our city, neighbor will help neighbor and we will all get through this together. Appreciate your help and kind words.

  3. Thank you Susan for your thoughtful caring post. As a former Houstonian of 40 years, now living in Austin, I know the stress and heartache of these storms. However, this one is truly exceptional. The Red Cross is an amazing organization. If you want to contribute on the local level, the Gulf Coast Chapter of the American Red Cross is its name. Thanks dear Femme!

  4. I would add the Houston SPCA, and to encourage people to donate to local charities. Sometimes the huge national organizations don’t do as good a job as the local groups in actually using donations to help local victims rather than build up their coffers. The Amer Red Cross, in particular, has been criticized for this, as recently as last year for their poor performance in Haiti. Perhaps they’ve improved, but I would aim for giving to Texas- or Houston-based groups.

  5. Susan, thank you so much for re-focusing all of us – your loyal readers – from our own little interests to something of real importance (not that we’re not all important!) – the plight of those in south Texas and Louisiana suffering from this terrible storm. As a Community Board member of the Red Cross, I appreciate your shout out to the RC; there are already volunteers from Kentucky in Texas doing what the Red Cross does best, helping those who need it most in times of crises.

  6. Thanks, I gave to the SPCA, because I didn’t even think about the animal shelters. Thanks for reminding me that they’re going to need so much more help too. My thoughts are with Southeast Texas.

  7. Thanks so much Susan,
    We’re soggy and heart broken, but we’re Texans and we will recover eventually. It really is beyond imagination.

  8. Susan, Thanks for posting this. Sometimes it is easy to get all wrapped up in one’s own problems and therefore fail to be attentive as one should to other folks’. Charity Navigator has a list of organizations which are responding. Here is the link: https://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=content.view&cpid=5239&utm_source=Charity+Navigator%27s+Mailing+List&utm_campaign=c5802c2834-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2017_08_28&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_b21df0343b-c5802c2834-94532677

  9. Thanks Susan for caring about Hurrican Harvey’s victims and devastation! I live near Corpus Christi and thankfully we had little damage; however nearby towns of Portland, Aransas Pass, Port A and Rockport Tx are in terrible shape. I will be donating as soon as we get power back.

  10. Thank you! You are wonderful to post this. I live in Houston with no damage thank goodness, but we’ve just started to breathe again. One of the real good guys in town, the Houston Texans’ J. J. Watt, is spearheading a fund at http://www.youcaring.com/victimsofhurricaneharvey
    It’s collected over $5 million so far. Thank you all for your care and concern. This is a great city; we Houstonians will also be helping with our hands and our hearts.