On August 25th, Texas residents started to see the effects that Hurricane Harvey would have on their lives, and Harvey’s impact has not stopped changing their lives since. Harvey was the end of what has been called a “hurricane drought.” The United States has not seen a storm as powerful since 2005; in fact, it is currently projected that the recovery from Harvey will be more costly than the recovery efforts of Hurricane Katrina.

With $190 billion in damage estimations and more than 30,000 individuals misplaced, there could not be a better time to reach out to Houston and the surrounding areas. Immediately after the storm, it was announced that monetary donations were really the only donations the city could handle, but as the smoke clears, the impacted areas will start to need other forms of support.

Of course, the Red Cross, United Way, and Salvation Army are collecting donations, but there are many other ways to assist. Local churches, humane societies, food pantries, and disaster organizations need your aid just as much. Before you donate, make sure you research what each group is asking for; they often don’t request anything you can give, because they simply do not have the ability to process all types of donations.

The mayor of Houston started the official Hurricane Harvey Relief Fund which accepts tax-deductible monetary donations in the amount of $10 and above. This fund was created at the request of many concerned citizens and companies, so if you are wanting to insure that your monetary donation goes straight to the city of Houston, this is the place for you: https://ghcf.org/hurricane-relief/.

The Houston Humane Society has both a wish list and a center set up for monetary donations. Both can be found at http://www.houstonhumane.org/. The humane society is also releasing additional storm updates on their website. Another way to give to the Houston Humane Society is through Youtube stars, Rhett and Link. The pair announced on their daily show, Good Mythical Morning, that all of the profits from one of their t-shirts would go directly to the Houston Humane Society. That shirt can be purchased here: https://mythical.store/collections/tees-hoodies/products/rhett-link-barbara-jade-tee.

Although Houston is currently in desperate need of your support, I would encourage you not to stretch yourself thin. The upcoming storm, Hurricane Irma, is estimated to be more powerful and potentially more damaging that Harvey. The areas impacted from Irma will most definitely need aid, so I suggest you give to Houston but preserve some way of giving to the potential Irma damages.