31 Aug 2017

Volunteering & Giving:

Hurricane Harvey Relief Efforts

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Photo courtesy of Texas Military Department on Flickr

If you’re feeling powerless about the devastation and sadness coming out of Houston and want to help, here are a couple of things you can do.

If you want to help with your dollars and your stomach (and don’t want to donate to the Red Cross directly, maybe), the Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington has you covered. Following the lead of Andy Shallal, whose chain of restaurants Busboys and Poets announced their pledge of support yesterday on social media, many members of RAMW are offering special deals today where part of the day’s proceeds go toward hurricane relief efforts.

You can find their full list here. RAMW is also encouraging restaurants who wish to participate in their efforts to email them directly at info [at] ramw.org. In our neighborhood, you can go to Ben’s Chili Bowl and Ben’s Upstairs, Bluejacket and Eat Bar. They will be participating in the main event, where up to 5% of the day’s profits will go to hurricane relief efforts. In addition to today, Agua301 will be donating 15% of the entire day’s sales on Sunday 9/3.

If you feel like sending things to the disaster area, Corinne Cannon of the DC Diaper Bank says PLEASE DON’T. Instead, she asks that people send money. Part of a message she sent to other listservs is shared here:

PLEASE DON’T SEND ITEMS! Pretty please. If you want to help please SEND MONEY. Send what you would have spent to mail something and donate that item to a local organization. The organizations on the ground in Harvey’s path know exactly what is needed and can leverage corporate and wholesale relationships to get items cheaper than you ever could.

For example, at DC Diaper Bank I can use corporate and wholesale connections to get a diaper for around $0.025 per diaper; at Costco you will pay $0.17 per diaper – do the math and it adds up quickly!! If you are thinking of giving to the Texas Diaper Bank or Austin Diaper Bank (and they are both amazing organizations that we love run by incredible EDs) they need dollars to pay for trucking wholesale diapers and extra staff. They will need this for a long while.

Additionally, when you send them item they have to spend precious time and staff power sorting through all they are sent. Donating dollars, which are also tax deductible for you, mean they can get folks exactly what they need quickly!!

Happy to delve further into this if folks have questions. Thanks!

Texas Diaper Bank
www.texasdiaperbank.org
Austin Diaper Bank
www.austindiaperbank.org
National Diaper Bank Network – helping to coordinate corporate donations and supporting banks across the country
www.nationaldiaperbanknetwork.org

VIDA Fitness and Aura Spa will be paying it forward throughout the whole Labor Day weekend. The gyms and spas will be donating proceeds from group classes, training sessions, spa treatments and from a special smoothie from the Fuel Bar called “The Harvey” to the Hurricane Harvey Relief Fund. YouVIDA Fitness and Aura Spa are located throughout town; in our neighborhood, they are at 1212 4th Street SE. For more information go to http://vidafitness.com

East City Books will be donating 10% of their sales to the Texas Diaper Bank on Monday September 4. YOU NEED BOOKS!

Update: The Haymaker Bar, 1015 H Street NE, will be donating $1 for every punch they sell from 9/1-9/3. YOU LIKE PUNCH!

Know of other places holding fundraisers or collecting money or donations? Give us a shoutout on social media and we’ll update the post accordingly.

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