It's no secret that Hurricane Harvey has devastated Texas and the surrounding areas when it hit land a couple weeks ago. The category 4 hurricane caused potentially up to $180 billion in damages to the state of Texas, killing 70 (that they know of), and leading to interviews like this:

Quick side note: the woman is totally justified in going off on CNN, who comes off as at best tone-deaf, and at worst, using these people to generate content and views, which is despicable. These people who just lost everything should probably be left alone rather than asking questions about "how that was?"

Anyways, the impact on Houston was predictably awful, which one would expect given the fact that it was both the strongest Hurricane to hit the US in 50 years, and hit Houston, the 4th most populated city in the US. While it won't have the impact in regards to lives lost relative to the last notable hurricane to hit the coast, Hurricane Katrina, the damages and the time it will take to recover are significantly worse. This isn't even taking into account those cities that are actually on the Texas coast such as Port Aransas, which was basically destroyed by the Hurricane:

One thing that will help people begin to feel better is seeing the millions of dollars donated to helping the victims of this terrible tragedy. Again, as much as there has been donated, it is minimal relative to the total damages, but it is impactful nonetheless. Those who have notably donated significant sums of money include President Trump ($1 mil spread among 12 charities), Robert Kraft (matching donations up to $1 million), local writer and generally great person Shea Serrano (over 130k so far), Rockets owner (as of a few days ago ex-owner after selling them for over 2 billion) Leslie Alexander ($10 mil), and most notably, JJ Watt, who has through a combination of grassroots and major donations has raised over 27 million as of today, which sounds great even before you take into account his initial goal was 200,000.

All of this sounds great. Fabulous acts of generosity by major public figures at a time when, regardless of whether or not it is a PR move, and regardless of how much money these people actually have, it is much needed and much appreciated. Anybody criticizing people for "only donating 1 million," are completely missing the boat. On the other hand, one subplot to all these donations is that the reason that Watt's (among many) has been so popular and so successful is his pledge to make sure these donations go directly to the cause. You would think that this wouldn't be an issue, as "charities" taking donations intended for those who just lost everything and not using it to help those in peril is, to put it lightly, a pretty shitty thing to do.

Yet, this type of greed is the reality we live in today. There are plenty of websites that advise people on what charities actually will have donations go directly to the those who need it, including various Food Banks, the Salvation Army, the Cantor Fitzerland relief fund, and Watt's to name a few. You'll notice that I left big names such as the Red Cross off that list, which wasn't a mistake, as they, among major organizations have been criticized for not actually doing much with the money they get. In one case, they only built 6 houses for those in Haiti after the 2010 earthquake, which while admirable, is minimal considering they generated half a billion dollars in donations. They in fact spent 25% of the donations on "internal expenses," which has led to people begging for donations to be anywhere except the Red Cross. Given similar corruption in past instances of natural disasters, specifically hurricane relief within the US, it's a safe bet to look elsewhere if you actually want to see your money do anything. While it is by no means a total scam, and there are just simply better ways to invest your funds if you do wish to donate.

Yet, the fact that this even needs to be said is flat out sickening. How could anybody in good conscience take money away from people who are dealing with this:

Plenty of people are criticizing President Trump this week for repealing DACA, which given the amount of DACA members in Houston who just had to deal with Harvey is gut wrenching in it's own right, but at least Trump, in this case, is doing what he said he would do- ban illegal immigrants- regardless of whether or not you agree with both the principal, the potential result, the context, or really anything surrounding the decision (personally, I don't). These charities hit up people, in many cases guilting them into donating money to causes that are legitimate tragedies. When people give money to charities like Red Cross, they aren't doing it so they can cover "internal expenses," they are doing it to rebuild communities devastated by things that they have no control over. Taking away money from those who deserve it is morally wrong in general, let alone in this context. If you're gonna donate money, do research beforehand to make sure it gets there, because while it shouldn't, in a capitalistic society greed always is present, in the best of times and the worst.