# Hurricane Harvey - Help a Brother Out



## Mike Greene (Aug 30, 2017)

My brother, Brian, runs the Houston Food bank. His house flooded on Sunday, but he’s been working full days coordinating with the government and other charities to get food where it’s needed. Those thousands of people sheltered at the Convention Center? Cots and blankets are the Red Cross. Getting food to them is the Food Bank. It’s an immense job, because there are shelters scattered all over the city, all of which are in urgent situations.

There are no guide books for “How Food Banks Can Prepare for Hurricanes,” but Brian does have the benefit of learning from the guy who ran the New Orleans Food Bank during Katrina. That guy would be … Brian. Yep, literally a month before his new gig at Houston started, Katrina hit while he was still running the New Orleans operation.

I hate that Brian has to deal with this again, because it’s rough on him. Honestly, though, he’s the best man for the job, so it’s good that he’s there. Sure, he’s my brother and I may be biased, but he’s really good at this. For starters, the largest food bank in the country isn’t New York, L.A., or Chicago. It’s Houston, which wasn’t even top ten when he first took the reigns. Brian did that. The Houston Food Bank is thankfully well stocked, and with the new facility he had built, it’s ultra-efficient. That's going to pay off during this next few weeks.

It’s been fascinating talking with him about how they prepared for this. Knowing that access might be limited if streets flooded, he had some staffers camp out 24/7 at the Food Bank, so no matter how flooded the streets got (the food bank is essentially an island right now), the food bank would still be operational. Food gets out using high water trucks and if necessary, helicopters.

Pallets were already staged ahead of time, so if flooding happened, loading would be fast. A few years ago, when they built the new facility, they even planned for disasters by putting in enormous fuel tanks and generators, and they pay extra, like hospitals do, for priority fueling and maintenance services. They even maintain a supply of gas for employees, so the staff will be able to get to work when gas stations are closed. It sounds like a crazy extravagance … until a disaster occurs. Like I said, there's no guide book for this, but as Brian said, "This isn't my first rodeo."

I could go on, but I’ve already rambled on more than most people probably care to read, so I’ll get to my point. (Aside from bragging about my brother. I’m so f-ing proud of what he’s doing.)

What I love about the picture I posted above (photo credit to Rick Wilking of Reuters) is that there’s a natural disaster in the background, but the power of the human spirit is in the foreground. In times like this, people want to help out. It’s a human quality we all have. Two guys could have gotten that woman into the boat, but six showed up for her. How cool is that? Politics may have divided us, but at our core, we're in this together.

I don’t live near Houston, so I’m not in that picture. I can’t hand out blankets, I can’t load food onto trucks, and I can’t help people onto boats. What I can do, though, is help pay for the gas to get food from the food bank to the shelters. (You knew that’s where I was headed with this, right?  )

Hurricane Harvey is going to be particularly expensive for the charities that help out with disasters, so this is a great time to help out. The Houston Food Bank is obviously at the top of Judith’s and my list, but there are many other organizations that are equally worthy, so I’ve listed a few below. Having had a front row seat watching Brian’s career, I can tell you for sure that your donation will be very much appreciated.

Houston Food Bank
http://www.houstonfoodbank.org

Food Bank of Corpus Christi
http://www.foodbankcc.com

Hurricane Harvey Relief Fund
https://ghcf.org/hurricane-relief/

Red Cross
https://www.redcross.org/donate/hurricane-harvey…

AmeriCares
https://secure.americares.org/site/Donation2


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## Nick Batzdorf (Aug 30, 2017)

Thanks. Done. I was struggling with which charity to donate to (and I've been on the Houston Food Bank site before).


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## chimuelo (Aug 30, 2017)

I hooked up to JJ Watts.
He started last week, and friends and family from Texas said he donates his own time to underprivileged kids, Pro Football Camp.
Square business, no extra salaries to cover, my kind of charity.


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## NYC Composer (Aug 30, 2017)

Done, donated to the HFB.

If I may gently suggest, the Red Cross is a very high overhead org that does not target the money you give to the desired recipients. (This according to my wife, a researcher and consultant for human rights funding.)


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## tack (Aug 30, 2017)

I was thinking about this very thing this morning. Sorry to hear your brother is caught up in the mess Mike, but glad to learn about his qualifications. Happy to have donated to the Houston Food Bank.

You may want to remove the Facebook tracking information from the first two links, though.


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## Nick Batzdorf (Aug 30, 2017)

NYC C I've been reading the same thing recently.

Houston Food Bank was the one I was leaning toward before I found out it's run by Mike's brother.


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## sourcefor (Aug 30, 2017)

Yes gave to Red Cross...maybe I will to the Food bank as well upon my return home...I feel so bad for those people!!


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## synthpunk (Aug 30, 2017)

My friends in Austin are bringing your brother a truck full of bottled water Saturday Mike. I've also asked all my friends to either donate to the Food bank, Red Cross or the Mayor's Relief Fund. Please thank him for helping others and hopefully he can get a good nap in soon.

I do hope this will put a halt to the over development of Houston now.


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## Mike Greene (Aug 30, 2017)

chimuelo said:


> I hooked up to JJ Watts.
> He started last week, and friends and family from Texas said he donates his own time to underprivileged kids, Pro Football Camp.
> Square business, no extra salaries to cover, my kind of charity.


JJ Watts was the Food Bank's designated Houston Texan charity spokesman for a year. Brian said he was great because he's so charismatic, plus a really caring guy.


tack said:


> You may want to remove the Facebook tracking information from the first two links, though.


Stupid Facebook. I think I fixed that now.

To everyone else, thank you for the support! And James, the water will certainly be appreciated. (As long as it's bottled and not just dumped!  )


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## synthpunk (Aug 31, 2017)

If you text 90999 to the Red Cross with the word Harvey a $10 donation will go directly to Harvey Relief. Sarah Barton thanks you.


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## NYC Composer (Aug 31, 2017)

http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-...rtion-of-donations-will-go-directly-to-harvey


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## gsilbers (Aug 31, 2017)

cool. I donated $100 for the Houston food bank.

I would suggest to tell them of having a paypal or stripe or other payment methods... even though those charge a little for that service. it might be easier for some.


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## creativeforge (Aug 31, 2017)

NYC Composer said:


> http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-...rtion-of-donations-will-go-directly-to-harvey



Awesome, Mike! 

BTW - *Red Cross Exec Doesn't Know What Portion Of Donations Go* *To Harvey Relief*

Kieserman: But the way the internal revenue stream works, uhh ...

Chang: You don't know what portion of that amount.

Kierserman: Not really.

Chang: You don't know what portion of that total amount is for relief.

Kieserman: No, I really don't. I wish I could answer your question, but it's not something I have visibility on in the role that I play in this organization.

=-=-=-=

I would stick with these:


Houston Food Bank
http://www.houstonfoodbank.org

Food Bank of Corpus Christi
http://www.foodbankcc.com/ (http://www.foodbankcc.com)

Hurricane Harvey Relief Fund
https://ghcf.org/hurricane-relief/


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## Desire Inspires (Aug 31, 2017)

I donated to Houston Food Bank.


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## Mike Greene (Aug 31, 2017)

gsilbers said:


> I would suggest to tell them of having a paypal or stripe or other payment methods... even though those charge a little for that service. it might be easier for some.


That's a good point. I'll mention that to him.


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## MisteR (Sep 3, 2017)

Thanks for the info on Houston Food Bank. Donated.


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## Brian2112 (Sep 5, 2017)

Hey guys. Thank you so much for doing all this. Mike, I thank you and your brother! And thank you to everyone who has donated and sent good wishes this way. I live in a house in Corpus Christi which is fine.I had a house I was renting out in Port Aransas and lived in for 30 years (was built by my grandfather) is completely gone. My mom's house in Houston that she has lived in for 50 years is badly damaged but she used her walker to get her 84 year old self through the flood waters to a safer house on the block.
But we are very lucky. We are all ok. And we don't need assistance.
Sadly, many people in Houston and surrounding areas have lost everything and don't know where to go and what to do.They are trying to make sure they can at least have a place to sleep and maybe a meal or two and figure out what to do next. They are the ones who could really use a little help right now. 
I am very proud of my hometown (Houston) and it will be back.
Thank you all again. So much!


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