TEXAS STRONG: HURRICANE HARVEY
09/01/17 — Heydon Hatcher
It's truly been a week of tragedy in our home state, but we're immensely humbled by the ceaseless acts of heroism and kindness we've been hearing about and seeing on the news. Did you hear Austin musicians have volunteered their time to perform in shelters, or that massive amounts of Austin restaurants are raising money (find an extensive list of who's doing what this weekend here) to send to our southerly neighbors for all the current and impending recovery efforts? Our farm community extends to Houston; we have CSA members, family, restaurant customers, and friends that have all been affected and we can't think of much else this week.
What We're Doing:
We're sending donations of fresh produce to those cooking in shelters and for first responders in Houston. A hot plate of food can provide real solace in tragic time like this. Side note: did you know, we donate an average of 500 lbs. of produce every week to Austin area food banks? Our Harvey donations will be (at least) this amount, and we have major hopes that donations will exceed our usual weekly sum. This week we sent a few hundreds of pounds of potatoes and sweet potatoes to Royal Fig Catering who is using donated produce to cook hot meals for various folks in the Houston and Humble area. We're looking to connect with more pop-up community kitchens in Houston... if you know of someone involved who could use a produce donation, email Ada at ada@jbgorganic.com. Beginning next week, our driver Lucas will be delivering produce donations to several community kitchens who are working tirelessly to help to feed those affected. Our partners at Central Texas Food Bank will also be supporting efforts.We feel SO fortunate to come out of this disaster unscathed. Our fields were very soggy and our plants are a bit wind damaged, but there was no flooding or infrastructure destruction. Other Texas Farmers weren't so lucky though. How can you help: donate to State of Texas Agriculture Relief Fund (STAR) or Texas Center for Local Food, and continue shopping local at farmers markets. These farmers who've experienced damage still may have product to sell and still need to make money (especially if they need to rebuild from the storm).
CSA members: one easy way you can help is to donate one of your CSA shares. This produce will be added to our donations and sent to the Houston Food Bank as soon as they're prepared to accept perishable produce donations. Thousands of displaced Houstonions are going to be relying on food banks for their family's meals for months to come; a fresh head of lettuce or bunch of carrots is a welcome change from canned goods and boxed meals. There are tons of ways that we can help Houston right now, and we think this is a pretty easy one. Every little bit helps, right? Join us in this small but important way to give our neighbors a bit of comfort [food]. Email the farm at farm@jbgorganic.com to donate! We will tally up the total number of CSA donations we receive and send produce in bulk to Houston. How does this work? We'll simply remove the last delivery on your schedule, and your subscription will renew a week earlier.
We know this info is out there already, but we thought we'd re-share some other ways you can help. We're no strangers to natural disaster on the farm, and know that anything helps.
Hurricane Harvey Relief Fund
Food Bank of Corpus Christi / Houston Food Bank
South Texas Blood & Tissue Center / We Are Blood
Houston Humane Society
Texas Diaper Bank
The Montrose Center
United Way of Greater Houston
Ever wanted a Yeti product? Full sale value of all products sold are going directly to Harvey victims today, 9/1. Find more info here.
There are a billion ways to give and help out... so let's get to it! Texas tough! Yeehaw!
Heavy rain and strong winds caused by #HurricaneHarvey Friday night in Corpus Christi, Texas. Fueled by warm water from the Gulf of Mexico, the Category 4 hurricane slammed into #Texas late Friday night, earlier than expected. It came ashore just northeast of Corpus Christi, packing 130 m.p.h. winds. ( Photographed for @nytimes )
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