Unprecedented winter storms have blanketed Texas, causing bitter cold temperatures and widespread power outages throughout much of the state.
President Joe Biden has declared a state of emergency, which makes people eligible for federal assistance. Still, the need for help is immediate as many struggle to find shelter, food and warmth in these dangerous freezing conditions. You can donate to any of the organizations listed by clicking this link or the links for individual sites below:
Unprecedented winter storms have blanketed Texas, causing bitter cold temperatures and widespread power outages throughout much of the state.
- The Salvation Army provides shelter, food, and other necessary items to those in need throughout Texas.
- The American Red Cross is supporting at least 35 warming centers with cots and blankets across the state.
- In Austin, the area Urban League has started the #LoveThyNeighborTX campaign to raise money for hotel rooms, food, water, clothing and other basic needs of the housing insecure communities.
- Mercy Chefs is providing hot meals, clean drinking water and USDA Farmers to Families grocery boxes in the Dallas/Fort Worth area.
- The Houston Food Bank is also distributing food to those in need.
- Austin small business Free Lunch is making deliveries of home-cooked meals, blankets, hand warmers and hygiene kits to the Esperanza Community residents, a state-sanctioned shelter/campsite in the city.
- The Other Ones Foundation is also providing resiliency kits for residents of the campsite. The kits include basic needs for those experiencing homelessness.
- Dallas-area organizations Austin Street Center, OurCalling, The Stewpot, Union Gospel Mission, and Oak Lawn United Methodist Church are pooling funds to help pay for temporary shelter as well as Covid-19 rapid tests for those in need.
- Lucille's 1913 Community Kitchen is preparing and distributing meals in the Houston area.
- Caritas of Austin also helps those experiencing housing insecurity in the Austin area. You can support their work by making a monetary donation or ordering items from their Amazon wish list to be shipped directly to the center.
- The Coalition for the Homeless of Houston/Harris County is supporting warming centers throughout Houston and Harris County.
- Austin Pets Alive! is working to keep pets across Texas warm and safe during the freezing conditions. The group needs heating pads, Styrofoam coolers, dog beds, heat lamps and monetary donations.
Impact Your World will continue to update this list as more organizations respond.
Leovardo Perez, right, fills a water jug using a hose from a public park water spigot Thursday, Feb. 18, 2021, in Houston. Texas officials have ordered 7 million people to boil tap water before drinking it following days of record low temperatures that damaged infrastructure and froze pipes.(AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
People wait in near freezing temperatures to fill water bottles and coolers with water from a public park spigot Thursday, Feb. 18, 2021, in Houston. Houston and several surrounding cities are under a boil water notice as many residents are still without running water in their homes. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
A water bucket is filled as others wait in near freezing temperatures to use a hose from public park spigot Thursday, Feb. 18, 2021, in Houston. Houston and several surrounding cities are under a boil water notice as many residents are still without running water in their homes. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
After seeing a posting on Facebook, LaDonna (no last name given) drove from Johnson County, Texas to collect some of the dumpsters-full of ice cream thrown out at a supermarket, Wednesday, Feb. 17, 2021, in Arlington TX. LaDonna said she's collecting the frozen goods for her neighbors. Rolling power outages this week have forced businesses to clear merchandise that needs refrigeration. (Tom Fox/The Dallas Morning News via AP)
Carlos Mandez waits in line to fill his propane tanks Wednesday, Feb. 17, 2021, in Houston. Customers had to wait over an hour in the freezing rain to fill their tanks. Millions in Texas still had no power after a historic snowfall and single-digit temperatures created a surge of demand for electricity to warm up homes unaccustomed to such extreme lows, buckling the state's power grid and causing widespread blackouts. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
Dialina Gonzalez sleeps on a mattress inside a Gallery Furniture store which opened as a shelter Wednesday, Feb. 17, 2021, in Houston. Millions in Texas still had no power after a historic snowfall and single-digit temperatures created a surge of demand for electricity to warm up homes unaccustomed to such extreme lows, buckling the state's power grid and causing widespread blackouts. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
James Anyaegvu, who lived in a home that burned, speaks with a fire fighter in Austin on Wednesday, Feb. 17, 2021. Austin Fire Department and ATCEMS responded to a house fire that killed two people and left several with critical and minor injuries. (Bronte Wittpenn/Austin American-Statesman via AP)
The parking lot of a Walmart Store on Coit Road empties as a second winter storm brought more snow and continued freezing temperatures to North Texas on Tuesday night, Feb. 16, 2021, in Plano, Texas. Walmart announced on Tuesday the chain would be closing 415 stores in Texas due to the weather. (Smiley N. Pool/The Dallas Morning News via AP)
Leonel Solis and Estefani Garcia use their car to heat their home in East Dallas area of Dallas on Wednesday, Feb. 17, 2021. The couple, who lost power on Sunday, have been using electricity from a neighbor's generator and heat from their car to stay warm after seeing it on TikTok. (Juan Figueroa/The Dallas Morning News via AP)
An Oncor crew works on along Elsie Faye Higgins Street as power outages continue across the state after a second winter storm brought more snow and continued freezing temperatures to North Texas on Wednesday, Feb. 17, 2021, in Dallas. (Smiley N. Pool/The Dallas Morning News via AP)
