Imagine life as you know it being turned upside down by flooding waters, strong winds, and heavy rains. Since the landfall of Hurricane Harvey, hundreds of thousands of Texans have been impacted by just that. “The word catastrophic does not appropriately describe what we’re facing,” Texan Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee told CNN. “We just don’t know when it’s going to end.”
There’s an intense need for support for the 30,000 people without shelter and estimated 450,000 people who will seek help from FEMA. Here are some of the ways that you can help Hurricane Harvey survivors.
Food Banks
There are numerous food banks that you can donate time, money, or food to in the affected areas. This is a list of the food banks that serve the areas impacted by Hurricane Harvey, so that you can help those most severely displaced by the disaster.
Food Bank of the Golden Crescent
Food Bank of the Rio Grande Valley
For specific foods to donate, food banks have been requesting non-perishable food items such as “pop-top” canned goods and non-expired MREs. They are primarily looking for food that packs in the nutrients without much storage hassle.
You can also donate to Feeding Texas, which is a non-profit that says it’s dedicated to “coordinat[ing] with the state and other providers so that relief reaches families quickly and the ‘second disaster’ of an unorganized response is avoided.” So basically, they’ll make sure your donation goes to the right place, and fast.
Corporate Donations
A lot of companies are also making it super easy to donate to the survivors of Hurricane Harvey. While shopping on iTunes or at Starbucks, you are given the opportunity to donate to the Red Cross.
We’ve also seen a ton of corporations donating money to the American Red Cross, various food banks, and the Direct Relief fund. Participating companies include Verizon, Walgreens, Coca-Cola, Apple, Target, UPS, Amazon and Whole Foods Market, and Microsoft.
If you want to lend your help, go to the American Red Cross website, find a food bank, or even volunteer. The Hurricane Harvey survivors need all the support they can get right now, and every can of food, time spent searching for survivors, and money donated to rebuilding the city of Houston counts.