Salem Stands With Texas

SALEM— Salem is stepping up to help victims of Hurricane Harvey in Texas. Mayor Kim Driscoll announced that the City of Salem is now coordinating with the City of Boston’s Help for Houston drive to bring aid and needed items to those residents of Texas impacted by Tropical Storm Harvey.

Salem residents are invited to deliver their donations of new diapers and unopened non-perishable baby food to the Mayor’s Office at City Hall, any Salem Fire Department station, or the Salem Police Station before noon on Thurday, Aug. 31, to help infants, children, and families impacted by the devastating storm. Items should ideally be labeled and boxed when delivered, though they do not have to be.

“Salem is a compassionate community and when we see those suffering and in need elsewhere, we are quick to respond,” said Mayor Kim Driscoll. “Our office has been receiving numerous calls and inquiries about how we can help. Once we learned of Boston’s relief effort, we reached out to try to coordinate with them. My thanks go to Mayor Marty Walsh and the City of Boston for helping to organize this effort and for allowing us to be a part of it. I hope any Salem resident who has the ability to donate to this effort will do so before Thursday evening.”

There are dozens of other ways to help victims of Hurricane Harvey.

• Portlight Strategies is working to help to help older adults and those with disabilities. Donate here.
• The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals of Texas is helping displaced animals. You can donate at www.spca.org/give or sign up to adopt a displaced animal at www.spca.org/foster.
• Food banks are asking for nonperishable staples like canned meat and dry goods, as well as cleaning supplies; the Houston Food Bank, Southeast Texas Food Bankin Beaumont, Central Texas Food Bank, Galveston County Food Bank, Food Bank of the Golden Crescent and Corpus Christi Food Bank all accept online donations. See the Houston Press’s list of names and contact information for more food banks here.

• You can donate to Feeding Texas, a network of food banks across the state. Find your local food bank here.
• Have a friend who rents a room in the Houston area on Airbnb? Let them know about how Airbnb is asking hosts open their homes to disaster victims.
• Make a cash or diaper donation to the Texas Diaper Bank, which is providing emergency diaper kits to displaced families.
• Donate cash or supplies for children with complex medical needs to Little Lobbyists.
• Several local and national organizations are collecting donations for general disaster relief efforts, including the United Way, Americares, Salvation Army, Save the Children, Global Giving, Direct Relief, Heart to Heart and Southern Baptist Disaster Relief.
• The State of Texas Agriculture Relief fund is collecting private dollars to help Texas farmers and ranchers recover from Hurricane Harvey.
• Help teachers in affected school districts rebuild their classrooms.
• You can help Hurricane Harvey victims by texting HARVEY to 90999 to give $10 to the Red Cross (or by visiting RedCross.org to give any other amount).
• The Hurricane Harvey Relief Fund, established by Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner, is accepting donations for flood victims.
• Volunteers can sign up for trips to the affected area through organizations like Samaritan’s Purse, Coastal Bend Disaster Recovery Group, Team Rubicon and Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster.

Image from U.S. Department of Defense