As residents of Texas continue to struggle with the destruction wrought by hurricane Harvey, the ISSA Foundation is partnering with several organizations who are working closely with The American Red Cross and FEMA to collect and supply critical necessities to those affected by the devastation. According to FEMA, approximately 450,000 people need assistance, and more than 30,000 residents have been displaced from their homes.
Ways to help include
Product Donation: Critical needs change dramatically. Currently, Good360 (formerly Gifts in Kind International) is working with the Red Cross and FEMA to help shelters with immediate needs such as personal items, toiletries, and water. Efforts will move very soon into the recovery and rebuilding phases that will last for months and years. Toiletries and personal items will still be needed desperately as will cleaning and maintenance products and even personal protective equipment. ISSA members are in position to help Good360 pre-position product to help in that phase at no cost.
If your company has product that can help in any stage of the disaster, please consider helping and complete Good360’s online donation form. Good360 staff will get your donated product to the right place at the right time to best assist the victims of Harvey. As always, Good360 will provide full transparency, tracking and reporting for your product donation, and will also provide impact stories and photos. One can contact Jim Alvey, Director of corporate development at Good360, with questions.
Monetary Donations: The ISSA Foundation is collecting monetary donations for the American Red Cross to immediately assist the thousands who have been displaced from their homes. Your monetary donation will help provide food, vaccines, and even counseling for those who are struggling as well as help with overall cleanup and restoration.
Personal Hygiene Kits: FEMA has stressed the need for personal hygiene kits for those displaced by the flooding, so the ISSA Foundation is also partnering with Clean the World to gather company sponsors to assemble hygiene kits. Clean the World partners with 5,000 hotels and resorts to collect their partially used bars of soap. These goods are sanitized and recycled in an environmentally safe manner, then distributed to children and families all over the world who are in desperate need of proper hygiene. Clean the World delivered over 490,000 bars of soap to both Haiti and the Bahamas and distributed thousands of hygiene kits in the United States to those affected by hurricane Matthew’s destruction in October 2016.