As y’all know I live in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, so thankfully was not personally impacted by Hurricane Harvey; But, as Houston is one of my go-to-cities understandably I am emotionally affected. It’s not that I am constantly saddened by the images of the suffering or in awe of the amazing stories of people helping each other in Texas, and it’s not even that we were just 20mins from the tornado that spun off Harvey. It was because I have guilt for not being able to leave my commitments to go and help with the rescue effort. I am constantly thinking of what I should do to help and feel guilty each time I have a normal happy day.
I know so many people in Houston, and some of my best friends were in the areas most impacted by the storm; I just don’t know who to help first or what they need most. I first went to donate to the Red Cross because they are the pros, then I sent messages to my friends who were affected to see how I could help (of course they are overwhelmed and, if they had tried, couldn’t tell me what was needed). My children’s school was taking up donations of food, clothes, and other items that would help with the relief effort which I thought would be a great way to teach my children compassion and selflessness, so we donated… But still… I keep wondering what did we really do… Life still goes on… work still goes on… commitments and responsibilities don’t stop….and Texas has a long way to go to recover. This to me is just heart breaking.
I know this doesn’t even come close to compare, but it reminds me when I first lost my job; it was very clear to me that other people’s life didn’t stop. It is hard. I am sure it is even harder when you don’t have a home like some of the people in Houston.
This week I received an email from TPS that said they would be putting together a relief effort for those people still without shelter, which made me proud to be associated with such a great group. This made me think…this must be the worst, people who have lost everything or maybe they never had anything to begin with… have no home. This gave me the direction I needed. TPS brought me to Houston the first time 10+ years ago, and I would like to help give back to the community I call my 3rd home…
As I said, work must go on, so I thought why not make it be part of MY help to the victims of Henry; So the Empowering Brands team will be doubling down and donating 10% of our September sales to this effort. It gives us the comfort to know that as we work on growing our business, we are also growing the amount of support we can give as #TPSHelpsHouston.
In closing, I want to say that my heart and prayers continue to go out to all those impacted by this terrible storm, especially those who lost a loved one. I know America is watching, and so many are doing whatever they can to help and support the relief effort.
If you have a charity that is special to you or a great story of support, please post it in the comments.
