Although Ike departed weeks ago from Texas’s weather-worn shores, the destruction the storm left behind still affects the coastal inhabitants who lost anything or everything. To aid these victims, several organizations at Sam Houston State University have decided to lend a helping hand.
Club Women’s Basketball & CarMah Communications teamed up in an effort to raise money and canned goods. They are hosting a rock/hip-hop concert next Tues., Oct. 14. The event is from 8 p.m. to 2 a.m., at the Walker County Fairgrounds.
Performing bands include Female Demand, T.H.E.A., Fat Pimp, Dorrough, Sedrique, A.N.B.I. Me, plus more to be confirmed.
Admission is $10 with canned goods and $15 without canned goods. The goods benefits the Good Shepherd Mission, who is running low in the food bank shelters according to Marissa Holbert, sponsorship coordinator.
“We’ve seen it wash away a lot of people’s homes. We felt that [we should] give back to some of the families, so we’re choosing two to three families from Galveston that need it the most,” Holbert said.
The program is also aided by local businesses, such as food and gift card donations from H.E.B, Firestone Tire, Margarita’s, Potato Shack, Ink Slingers, Murski’s, the Farmhouse, Sonic, Subway, Quiznos, and Huntsville Lanes.
All proceeds are donated directly to a few families selected from the Galveston region.
“We decided to directly donate it to them because we didn’t want to go through FEMA or anything like that – it’s too much paperwork” Holbert said. “We felt that somebody needs to do something.”
National organizations have been helping those in need since the hurricane, like the American Red Cross. According to the Red Cross said they have provided 168,000 overnight stays, 261 shelters, over six million meals, 70,523 clean up kits, and 37,028 comfort kits to victims as of Oct. 3.
Donating funds to the Red Cross is one method of giving back to the large-scale community, in addition to smaller community efforts like those at Sam Houston. Donations can be made on their official website, http://www.redcross.org, by calling 1-800-Red-Cross, or texting “GIVE” to 24357 for a five dollar donation added to your phone bill.
Other organizations on campus are pitching in with their own fundraising efforts. SHSU’s International Hispanic Association (IHA) and National Association of Blacks in Criminal Justice (NABCJ), are collaborating running an item drive as well as a car wash.
“We’re teaming up together and promoting a Hurricane Ike drive for the victims of Hurricane Ike, not only for the victims in Houston but also in Galveston,” Carla Miranda IHA fundraiser chair and NABCJ community service chair said.
The drive will be on Wed. Oct. 8 and Thurs. Oct. 9 on the LSC mall area from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Clothing, household necessities, and non-perishable food items will be collected from Sam students.
The upcoming carwashwill be on Oct. 9 from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. at the Taco Bell on Sam Houston Avenue.
“Not only is our goal to promote this, but promote community,” Miranda said. “Just to promote unity among the community and what we hope to accomplish. It’s not a set amount of things we want, we want people to lend a helping hand,” she said.