Donate to Hurricane Relief

By Steve Thomas

Updated September 5, 2017

Originally posted August 28, 2017

If you’ve listened to the Hog Sty or It’s Just Business, you know that I live in the greater Houston metro area.  While I am fortunate enough to have survived the worst of the ongoing Hurricane Harvey disaster with only minor damage, there are now over 23,000 people living in shelters throughout the state and another 5,000 living in state parks, all of whom being in dire circumstances thanks to 50 inches of rain dumped on the Houston area.  The people of East Texas – in the Beaumont, Port Arthur, Orange area – and east into Louisiana were hit just as hard as Houston.  The Texas Division of Emergency Management currently estimates that over 6,800 homes were destroyed, with another 124,000 being damaged, but those estimates are expected to rise as the cleanup phase begins.  At of this moment, over a week after the storm, freeways are still closed due to flood waters, and some neighborhoods are still accessible only by boat.  It’s a desperate situation down here – this is the worst flood in U.S. history when measured by total amount of rain.  Cleanup will take years and cost billions.  We ask that those of you who are able to please donate money to reputable relief agencies to allow them to do their jobs and help those who have lost everything.

Now, as you are all aware, Hurricane Irma has struck the state of Florida and the Caribbean islands.  Irma was one of the strongest Atlantic storms ever recorded, and we are only now beginning to see the true extent of the damage suffered; most certainly, like Texas, tens of thousands of lives have been affected and cleanup will cost billions.  The U.S. Virgin Islands in particular were struck while Irma was still a category 5 storm and will need to be rebuilt in large part.

We want you, our Hog Sty readers, to help.  The following are some agencies that we feel are worthy, honest, and are providing immediate, locate help and can use your financial support:

HOUSTON AREA/HURRICANE HARVEY:

RED CROSS: http://www.redcross.org/hp/harvey or donate by phone by calling 1-800-HELP-NOW

UNITED WAY OF TEXAS HURRICANE HARVEY DISASTER RELIEF: https://www.uwtexas.org/hurricane-harvey

SALVATION ARMY: https://give.salvationarmyusa.org/site/Donation2?df_id=27651&mfc_pref=T&27651.donation=form1 or call 1-800-SAL-ARMY

TEAM RUBICON: https://teamrubiconusa.org/

JJ WATT FOUNDATION: YouCaring.com/JJWatt 

409 HURRICANE HARVEY RELIEF FUND: https://www.youcaring.com/familiesaffectedbyhurricaneharveyinthe409area-931377 – organized by the NFL’s Earl Thomas and Jamaal Charles

HOUSTON FOOD BANK: http://www.houstonfoodbank.org/

 

FLORIDA, U.S. VIRGIN ISLANDS/HURRICANE IRMA:

RED CROSS: https://www.redcross.org/donate/hurricane-irma-donations?campname=irma&campmedium=disasterhp

SALVATION ARMY: https://give.salvationarmyusa.org/site/Donation2?df_id=28057&mfc_pref=T&28057.donation=form1

UNITED WAY OF FLORIDA: http://www.uwof.org/find-your-local-united-way-0

UNITED WAY OF THE U.S. VIRGIN ISLANDS: https://www.unitedwayusvi.org/Help

 

This isn’t an exhaustive list, and we’ll keep updating it as time goes by.  If you need more information or want information on other ways to help, please contact us at thehogsty@gmail.com or on Twitter @thehogsty.