Posted on Sep 07, 2017
 
District 5730 has established partnerships with four organizations to coordinate Hurricane Harvey Relief. The first three are High Plains Food Bank in Amarillo, South Plains Food Bank in Lubbock, and the West Texas Food Bank in Odessa and Midland. These organizations have the facilities to accept, sort, package and ship relief supplies to capable receiving and distribution centers. They are a part of Feeding Texas, a network of food banks covering all counties in Texas.  The fourth partner is HungerPlus that has the logistics skills through its network to support the additional long-range transportation needs brought about by this state-wide response.
 
What you and your clubs can do:
  1. Collect relief supplies as identified on the attached list. They consist of non-perishable food items, many of which do not require cooking, cleaning supplies, and personal supplies. Deliver them to the Food Bank nearest your local collection points. The Food Banks request that you do not deliver clothing. Those items should be given to other collection agencies such as the Salvation Army.
  2. Encourage other organizations in your club’s area to collect items and deliver them to the Food Banks.
  3. Deliver the items to the Food Bank nearest you. You are discouraged from taking your own trailer load to the Gulf Coast.
  4. Contribute to the Harvey Relief Funds of the three Food Banks and HungerPlus. This will support the additional costs of handling, packaging, and shipping. All organizations are 501(c)3.
  5. Volunteer your time and encourage other groups to volunteer at one of the collection sites. These volunteer efforts including the donation of cash and in-kind items count toward your Presidential Citation when you log them into Rotary Club Central.
We anticipate that this effort will be ongoing for several weeks. Rotarians are “People of Action” and know how to muster the diverse resources to tackle this humanitarian service need. Thank you for your support. The people in each of the Rotary Districts directly impacted by Harvey (5890, 5910, and 5930) will benefit from your contributions.