A Call To Action To Help Texas And Florida Hurricane Victims

With Irma and Harvey ganging up on the southeastern American coastlines, plenty of people need immediate help. The damage done by hurricanes in the last few weeks will take at least a year for some to recover from. 

Many who live far away from the coast want to help out and are donating online in order to participate in the recovery effort. There are many organizations we can all donate online to. Here are just four:

• Samaritan’sPurse, led by Franklin Graham, son of evangelist Billy Graham, provides spiritual and physical aid to victims of war, natural disasters, disease, poverty, and persecution in more than 100 countries.“Samaritan’s Purse mobilizes staff and equipment and enlists thousands of volunteers to provide emergency aid to victims of tornadoes, hurricanes, wildfires, floods, and other natural disasters in the United States. We often stay behind after our initial response to rebuild or restore houses for families in need.”  Current projects are located in Houston, Pearland, Santa Fe, Victoria, and Rockport/Portland in Texas.  Samaritan’s Purse has a team in St. Martin now and is also readying teams to help in Florida. 
• GlobalGiving is helping with hurricane relief by providing food, water, and medicine as well as long-term recovery assistance. Their efforts will help people in the US and in the Caribbean. 
• TheSalvation Army has served more than 118,000 meals in Houston to victims of Hurricane Harvey. They are mobilizing to help in Florida too.
• J J  WATT, a powerful Defensive End on the Houston Texans NFL team, organized a fundraiser for victims of Hurricane Harvey that, as of this writing, has surpassed $32 million dollars. So far, the YouCaring page lists 200,000 supporters. And people are still giving. 

Today’s goal is: Donate to a trusted charity. Do the research. Find an organization you’d like to support in order to share the burden of hurricane-affected families.

Billions of dollars must be donated to help these families. We know it won’t come from a few, but from millions of donors worldwide. But which organization should you give to?

That’s a decision each donor should make. Look for trusted websites that give accurate information. Contact them if you have specific questions.

Maybe your friends want to have a donation party where they all bring an item to be auctioned off, with all the proceeds going to the hurricane relief efforts in Texas or Florida.

Thanks for being generous and helping someone smile.