Three Ways to Help Texas Residents Affected by Winter Storms
Looking for a way to help those in Texas?
Winter storms have left millions of Texas, Louisiana, Tennessee, Kentucky, West Virginia and Virginia residents without power and some without water according to the Red Cross.
While federal and state level emergency plans have been put into place, there are a few ways you can help out too! Whether you know someone who lives in one of these states or just want to lend a hand, we have a few ways to do just that.
Our hearts are with all of those who have been affected by the winter storms! Some of our very own team members have experienced the power outages and loss of water and we’re keeping all of you in our thoughts! – The Hip Team
Make A Monetary Donation
One of the easiest ways to help out from afar is to make a donation and then organizations are able to put your money to work in the areas and ways it’s needed most. Plus, be sure to keep receipts if you intend to claim monetary donations on your tax return.
- Visit the American Red Cross or you can also call 1-800-REDCROSS or text REDCROSS to 90999 to make a $10 donation for those in need.
- Donate to the Salvation Army here.
- The organization in Dallas, Our Time is providing shelter for residents in the Dallas, Texas area. You can donate to their cause here.
- Local food banks are in need of donations and you can donate to them through FeedingTexas.org
- Mercy Chefs is helping feed those in need through grocery boxes and community kitchens as well as providing clean water, generators and more! You can donate and learn more about their mission here.
Live in or near Texas and are able to help out? Donate your time!
Many residents that have been without power have had pipes burst in their homes, as well as suffered damage from freezing temperatures and snow. These organizations help you lend a hand…
- CrowdSource Rescue offers you the chance to sign up if you’re needing help or help someone who is in need.
- San Antonio County Residents are needed to help the South Alamo Regional Alliance for the Homeless – note that they are also providing shelter if you are in need.
- Airbnb offers an OpenHome program that lets you sign up to allow those in need to stay in your home, apartment or any residence you have available while they need a place to stay. Head here to learn more.
Give Blood!
The Red Cross is asking individuals who are healthy and able to, especially those with O-type blood to make a blood donation. Thousands of scheduled blood drives were cancelled due to the storms and donations are needed.
You can schedule an appointment by downloading the free Blood Donor App, visiting RedCrossBlood.org, calling 1-800-REDCROSS (1-800-733-2767) or enabling the Blood Donor Skill on any Alexa Echo device.
We are in Texas and our pipes bursted. We have lots of damage behind. I’m devastated by the damage left behind but being strong for the kiddos.
SO very sorry to hear that. You are in our thoughts. 💕
Yes I’m in Texas too. We’ve been without services since Sunday night. We have a special needs child and it’s been very difficult. Thank God our parents have a generator if not it would be so much worse.
I am so sorry. I know this is hard on everyone but from personal experience I know that having a special needs childadult makes everything a bit more complicated. Everyday things that you usually have under control become “issues” that take more energy and time to adapt to. Fortunately here in Virginia we were only without power/water for 3 days ( pipes didn’t freeze…who knew a well needed electricity to pump the water!?!). Hang in there…one of my favorite sayings as a special needs Mom…”Don’t sweat the small stuff and if it’s not going to kill someone…it’s all small stuff!” 😂
WV resident here. Got power last night. Have to throw out all the food in the fridge and freezers. That hurts.
Livlee, you can look into filing a claim with your home insurance company. We lived in Texas, and one time we had a bad hurricane and lost power for a week. I had just gone to grocery store and loaded up on groceries, hitting a great sale on meat. Frig was full, freezer was full … and we lost everything! We filed a claim with home insurance, and they paid the max for food loss ($500).
We are in PA and my kids and I are praying for all of you affected by the storms. Always in our thoughts❤️❤️
thank you so much for sharing this!!
You’re SO welcome!
My husband and I normally spend winters in San Antonio but we’re unable to this year. We have been talking to our Texas friends and wished that we could help. Thank you for the ideas, I’ll be able to do something to help.
You’re very welcome! 💕
We’re in Houston and out of power , water , heat for 56 hrs straight.. and damages to the pipes.. an inconvenience to our family with two kids when compared to others who had major damage.. we’re all helping each other in every way we could🙏
We are in Hou too. The conditions have been pretty rough here so thank you for bringing attention to this and ways to help! Although I would caution any readers NOT to give to Red cross. They really screwed us over after Harvey, they took in millions for Houstonians from all over the country and did nothing to help the people here. Nothing. Giving blood is so crucial too bc a lot was lost in the storm due to outages. Thank you!
Located in Texas, this organization is called upon by the RedCross to go all over the US. http://www.tbmtx.org
They take free shower/laundry units to places without power and electricity during disaster situations. They also take feeding stations that serve warm nutritious meals to residents and all other organizations’ volunteers going to these locations to help. You can give direct to them. http://www.tbmtx.org
Thank You! I never knew a boots on the ground organization existed.
I don’t know about now, but in the past donations to the Red Cross didn’t always go to where the giver intended it to go. Checks had to have a note of where you wanted the money to go(TX extreme weather emergency help) or else the money would go into a general fund that could be used for anyone anywhere. This may have changed over the years, but I don’t know because I don’t give them any money anymore. If you do your research you will see how much of the actual amount you donate actually goes to help individuals that need it and how much goes to pay the CEO or others.
I know there have still been, recent reputable articles, about just this pretty much. And I understand it takes money, to run even a not for profit organization. However when the largest portion of a $1 donated goes everywhere but direct help i struggle to want to support/give to that organization. Or like you stated, you donate based on the fund raising premises, it will help with this disaster, but they decide to divert the funds elsewhere. I try to donate instead to local direct relief programs or to my local organizations that are getting together relief packages/donations. Usually religious groups, Boys and Girls Scouts, Veterans or Military groups, Community and Civic groups.
90 cents of every dollar given to Red Cross goes directly to program services. This info is verified on Charity Navigator, not just the Red Cross site. However, you’re right about directing donations. If you want the money to go to one of the specific states impacted, you will want to choose that when you’re making the donation. Thanks for pointing that out, Observant Mom!
A non profit sends the money where they want to. I do not donate for a corporations tax write off!
For instance giant expects me to round up, every time I buy food, yet their prices keep going up! Humm, very confusing as most say higher labor costs make prices go up!
Praying for all of the affected families. We are in KS and had below zero temps for over a week long. Rolling blackouts and unfortunately they just informed us that our gas bills will be outrageous “WICHITA, Kan. (KWCH) – Natural gas bills 10, 20, or even 25 times higher than normal. An average customer’s bill is going to be somewhere in the $2,500 range just for their house.” Honestly…we Can NOT afford this.
Thank you for sharing this! I’m in the Houston area & never thought I’d see this happen! We appreciate all the love & support! Lost power on Sun recovered on Tues but then lost water. I work for H-E-B so we are working to keep our community taken care of especially those needing water & basic supplies. This stinks even more since we are still in a pandemic too! Stay safe and wishing those in other areas the best too!
Samaritan’s Purse will never misuse your donation and they will be there on the ground working o help those effected.
I feel that a lot of any money sent here would go to the CEO’s salary (over $600K); my DH works for a non-profit and their CEO gets paid way less than that…
Prayers for all of you. My sister is down there without water and power with my little nieces. Prayers for all of you! Know that we care about you.
Definitely odd weather this year. Those of us here is snow country who are prepared for it (Buffalo NY) have had a relatively mild winter- I walked outside this morning in a sweater, jeans and boots cause it’s mid-20s.
My mom is in Del Rio TX & my daughter & her bf had made plans to take a road trip from California to Texas visit her since last year. I wasn’t to worried as my daughter grew up driving in snow & icy conditions so she knows the dos & don’ts.
Before they left I gave her money and said to stop at a grocery store before they get into Texas & fill up the cart(s) with food & water. My mom’s water & electricity has been out since Sunday. My husband told my daughter, “Make sure you get grandma her boxed wine!” 😂
The kids made it there and thank God I told her to stop. The 2 grocery stores in her town are wiped out.
So now I’m on the hunt for a generator, kerosene heater & maybe a little propane grill. My mom’s house is all electric.
My hearts go out to everyone dealing with this. I know this is not the norm for Texas.
Praying for all.
Thank you all for your prayers , support and help. We are in austin and we where out of power , heating for almost 76 hrs, total blackout, the freezing temperature were difficult to be without the heat, especially for my 5y kid, at night time we would take two comforters + blankets and sleep tight wearing 3 layers of clothes, but one good thing for us atleast we had a gas stove n could eat warm cooked food, I really feel sorry for those who have electric stoves
We just got power yesterday morning, though we had a miracle snowfall but it became a disaster couldn’t even enjoy it😫
I live in Houston, too. We didn’t have power for 2 days.
Salvation Army is also very reliable and well organized. Trustworthy to give to!
This is a good time for a public service announcement. Be prepared!! Get ready now for emergencies, have supplies on hand and have a plan for when the power goes out. Sadly, this dark winter isn’t over yet and we can’t wait for help to arrive.
My prayers are with those who have been affected! I am so, so sorry. I live in CA. and have been without power up to 8 days due to a snowstorm in 2019. I second the advice about asking your homeowner’s insurance to cover the rotten food. CSAA helped with that when we evacuated for a fire in 2018.
Just a tip I learned camping in cold weather-Thermacare heat wraps can really keep you warm as you sleep, up to 8 hours. The large ones made for back pain are best. Dollar Tree sells an off-brand item that is similar. Watch for skin irritation though.
Praying for you, Texas.
I have loved seeing the helpful hearts of my fellow Texans…making the best out of a sticky (& snowy) situation. Being friendly and kind and giving to all those struggling during these insane temperatures. I’d give y’all a big hug, but I don’t have any clean clothes!! 💜💜💜
I have family in south Texas. Many have been displaced due to lack of power since the weekend, but we are VERY fortunate my 75yo in-laws lucked out and only lost water pressure. They’re been helping other family members and neighbors as much as possible. My FIL goes out to Laguna Madre every day to help with the turtles.
(Sorry, My cat hit “Enter.” LOL…) If you haven’t heard, Sea Turtle Inc on South Padre Island has rescued nearly 5000 cold stunned turtles. Volunteers are doing their best to help do as much as possible, but there’s more than can be handled. They are running a fundraiser here: bit.ly/Residents2021 My daughter is also donating her birthday gifts and asking relatives and friends to donate to her Turtle Drive. Definitely a worthy cause IMHO. 🙂
Thank you for thinking about us. I’m in north Texas and only had 70 hours of rolling blackouts.
I’m sorry about the blackouts, John!
The ones who have electric are seeing price increases and Bill’s in the thousands of dollars. How is this fair? It looks like Texas wants to pass their cost on to their utility customers.
How is that lack of regulation and green energy working now!
We need all energy, not just wind and solar!
Texas was deregulated, privatized, and removed from interconnected networks to avoid federal regulation and increase profits to a small number of wealthy individuals. People of Texas need to wake up when it comes to elections!
I’m just north of Houston city limits. I’m really tired of all these storms. It costs $ I can’t afford to prep each time. I lost power 3 times and trickled water 3 days. Used Dollar Tree buckets to hold trickling water for toilet. My pipes were wrapped in the 80s already. Always wrap pipes with foam in attic and down the walls if possible. (my oldest son had a pipe burst in his garage in Rosenberg) Looks like my refrigerator has died though cause it’s not cooling now. I’ve had ziplock bags of ice in bottom of freezer since Harvey to keep food cold longer if power goes out. It saved a lot of it. Husband got dry ice from work to help yesterday. We are not on Houston water so don’t have to boil, but I have for a few days because it was low pressure and didn’t know yet if it was safe. I have a gas stove. I already knew about ERCOT before but not about this winterization problem. Mattress Mac is a real person too. His business is a few miles from me. 🛏️ Grocery stores ran out food because they lost power and had to throw out probably. But that’s happened after hurricanes before. Only this time storm knocked out stores across the state.
on Tues, Feb 23, my refrigerator started cooling again! I think maybe the water line or compressor was just frozen and thawed out???? or stuck??? so glad i don’t have to buy a used one.
Operation Blessing also has boots on the ground helping Texas. http://www.ob.org if you want to donate.
Im on the north of Houston too, was without power since early Sunday, that was even before the storm hit hard here, no power until Thursday morning, no water from Tuesday to Friday do to 6 bursted pipes we collected lots of rain water and managed with that for shower use, dishes, and toilets. The food didn’t go bad, we place everything in coolers over the snow outside. We have four kids, first thing we had to do was not to panic we have no control over the situation there’s no reason to stress over something we can’t fix, like weather. Thank you to all for helping, donating, and praying for Texas and those affected.
Sorry for all those this storm has affected. We here in Mississippi have had quite the week as well. My family lost power but not very long thankfully. I have friends and neighbors who are still without power since early this week. Some have small sources of heat and some don’t. Today was the first day it got above freezing in a week. So thankful for the sunshine. ☀️ This is very unusual and crazy weather for us. ❄️
Red Cross is not the most helpful organization. Tons of waste, turning donations and volunteers away. Pretty familiar with them being someone from lake Charles where we have been hit by four federally declared disasters in the last year. If you want to donate to a more efficient charity check out Cajun navy or mercy chefs. Both are in Texas now.