In the past I have been silent when it comes to these natural disasters, I think I do what everyone does and I try to get all of the information, from the REAL press - yes that would be the free press that we have here in our country, we are so lucky to have it - we can complain about it all we like but when something like Hurricane Harvey comes along we can see what's going on, we can come together and help as much as we can from afar and we can send our prayers because we are seeing the devastation. Doing what we can, that's the name of the game and not just closing our eyes to what is going on in the world around us. This could be a moment to donate to the RED CROSS and it could also be a moment to find a pet climate change project and donate to that... these both seem viable to me. In our short lives on this planet we have been through our share of natural and not natural disasters, Sandy, what was the name of that fricking snowstorm after Sandy which was equally devastating and left us with no electricity for a week in the wintertime! And then there is the reason we left NYC... we were just blocks away from World Trade Center. So we do know how the government can help because FEMA provided us with water when we were afraid to drink the water in lower Manhattan and they gave us a place to go to get information. I was pregnant at that time so I was a bit on 'high alert' in my mind about being careful about my health - they handed out face masks, they were kind and helpful. That meant a lot at that time and when you are in a situation such as this you have now idea how much having somewhere to go, someone who has answers - how much that helps.
Now I am going to go into the flip side because I am also a business owner and only another business owner knows how something like this can affect our business. It is pretty devastating when you are a small business - so while we have our minds on what's going on in Texas, we are also trying to keep our businesses going in the best way possible. We donate as a business and a family but after listening to many MANY NPR fund drives I have realized the benefit of using my business to raise money wherever I can so here we go...
Donate to the Red Cross and get a match of your donation from Amazon -
I have checked around and I think this is the most effective way that we can help Texas in the immediate situation and get the most bang for your donating buck. Now that Whole Foods (a favorite) has combined with Amazon (not a favorite) we can use the Amazon resources to get double the impact, they will match your donation through the above link.
Dontate to the Red Cross - get funds directly to Red Cross as efficiently as possible, the website gives you a choice of what you want your money to go towards - Harvey Relief, your local Red Cross or other choices.
All Hands Volunteers - A network of volunteers to help - hands on - in a way that only people can, over 200,000 volunteers have helped over 500,000 people so far through All Hands Volunteers.
Houston Humane Society - maybe you don't want to help humans and you only want your funds to go towards helping animals
The Houston Food Bank - This will be essential in the coming days so help them replenish their shelves by donating.
Or find your way to help as you can. We will be donating 10% of our sales in the coming week to the Red Cross - doing what we can to help, don't worry too much about who you are donating to just donate!
love to all - carina
