YOU Caring Fund for 6 Families at Our School Who Lost Their Homes

Hello friends! I hope you had a great, long Labor Day weekend.  It’s been quite an emotional week here as I’m sure you can imagine.  We had planned to go on a family Labor Day weekend trip to Wimberley, Texas (including my mom and brothers and their wives and kids), but with all that’s happened here lately, we ended up cancelling.  We were disappointed to miss, but we used that time here for good and continued volunteering at a local church (First Baptist) and were grateful to see the fruits of everyone’s hard labor come to fruition.

After days of sorting and organizing all the generous donations, we set up “shoppable” stations so that families could come and take what they need- everything from food, toiletries, linens, toys, baby items, clothing, etc.  And for people that can’t get there to shop, volunteers are taking items to be delivered.

harvey relief Collage

Here at home, we’re preparing for school to start back Tuesday (although HISD won’t go back until September 11 or later).  Sadly, we found out over the weekend that several families at James’ school lost their homes due to flooding during the hurricane.  We are thankful that all of them are okay and the damage was to their homes and property only- no loss of lives or injuries, thank God!

Our school is small, about only two classes per grade and one of the biggest draws of the school for us and many others is the diverse, tight-knit community.  It feels like everyone is family.  One of the families (the DR Fam below) have a son in second grade that is one of James’ close friends since PK3.

It’s so heartbreaking to see these devastating images on the news and quite another to cry with someone you know and care about on the phone as they tell you how they had to be rescued from their home by boat.  If it was scary for the adults, I can’t even imagine how the kids felt.  Except the 4 year-old cutie pie daughter of the T Family- she thought it was a big adventure and couldn’t wait to tell Grandma how she rode a boat through their neighborhood! Makes me just want to squeeze her! (That’s her in the pink jacket below).

Our school principal, teachers, PTO and community have already come together to help these families with donations of immediate things they need and have set up a meal train so that they don’t have to worry about groceries or cooking while they try to rebuild their homes and lives.  They’ve also started helping with the heavy lifting work of tearing out sheetrock.

HOW YOU CAN HELP 

I’ve always known that YOU have have the most loving and giving hearts and it was never more apparent than in the last week.  I received so many messages from you checking on us, telling me you were heartbroken and praying for people affected by this horrendous disaster, and letting me know that you have donated to organizations helping with Hurricane Harvey relief. I could cry at the genuine outpouring of support.  I just want to hug each and every one of you!

I know lots of you wanted to go a step further or haven’t given yet, not sure where you could best use your resources.  I’ve been the same way and want to use my resources for good too.  Now we have a chance to help, giving directly to six families at our school that lost their homes due to the hurricane.

I have spoken to each of these families and with their permission, have set up individual You Caring accounts that you can donate to.  One family already had an account set up for them by a friend, so I included that one instead of creating a second one.  Originally, I was going to start Go Fund Me for each family, but on Stories, you told me that GFM takes a large fee and You Caring doesn’t.  I wanted to make sure as much of the donation as possible gets into their hands.

I’m sharing each of their stories with you below and, if you can, please give to one or more of these families.  I don’t ask lightly.  I know it’s stretching it to ask when you may have already given to another charity.  Just keep in mind that any amount helps, even $5 or $10! Your donation will go directly to them as the beneficiary of the account.  They will use the money to rebuild their homes and to buy necessities and furniture and to replace the things that were lost in the storm.

They are beyond grateful for any amount of support you can offer.  We might not realize it, but it can be hard to ask for and receive help when you are the one used to doing the giving.  But I love what the mom in the T Family said through her tears when I talked to her, “We won’t be ashamed of what’s happened. It will take a long time to recover.”

Just click on the family name to read their story and donate directly to them. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts!  And p.s. I’ve never set up something like this before, so if you notice any glitches, please let me know. 

The LB Family

Isn’t this family adorable?  And Mom is 14 weeks pregnant with their third.

LB Family

The DR Family

That’s James’ sweet friend and his parents. And they have two wonderful older sons also.

DR family photo  

The PL Family

What a bunch of sweet faces.  Their youngest daughter is just a little younger than Jordan!

PL Family

The J Family

Dad is a US Marine veteran and Mom is in the medical field.  Their precious 4 year-old daughter loves Belle!  Thankfully, their dogs (not pictured) are great swimmers and are safe and sound.

Jimenez Family

The SD Family

Only this crew could keep each other smiling through the storm. Good for you for being able to give a thumbs up even in the midst of such chaos.

SD Family.2

 

The T Family 

This one brought me to my knees.  The picture was snapped right when Dad and daughter (carrying her little baby doll!) were exiting the rescue boat in the pouring rain and the son is on the right wearing the Texans beanie.  Mom said she didn’t even realize someone took the picture until someone told her it was on Snapchat.

Torres Family Rescue

I hope these stories give you some personal insight into what is happening in our own backyard and that you feel good having an opportunity to give to someone you can put a face to.  

Love you so much and cannot begin to thank you enough for giving to our school families! 

 

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Meet Megan

Hi! I’m Megan, mom to a thoughtful teenager and spunky young girl. We call Houston home and recently moved into our dream home. I traded my lawyer hat to become a full-time blogger in 2010. I love sharing my passion for affordable fashion, home decor, organization, & fitness to help inspire you to take care of you!

9 Comments

  1. Megan- I’m LB mom’s sister and I can’t thank you enough for this sweet post, your prayers and your generosity. My husband and I and my parents all live 4 hours away and words can’t describe the pit in my stomach I got when my sister called and told us what was going on and there was nothing we could do to get to them.

    The generosity and love that you and so many people have shown them over the past week has been nothing short of amazing. I’m beyond grateful for you and all of those that have reached out and been the hands and feet of Jesus during this hard time.

    Thank you again!

  2. Thank you for all you’re doing and for putting up posts like these and in your stories. It’s wonderful to find a way to help from afar. Best of luck to you all in rebuilding your homes!

  3. Thank you for this. It is a wonderful idea, and many will appreciate knowing that their donations will go directly to families in need of a helping hand. Praying for everyone.

  4. I follow your blog and was surprised and happy to see our family friends included as one of the six families you mention. Thank you, thank you for doing this for all of these families. You are blessing them in a tangible way, and this allows us an opportunity to show support and love during a heartbreaking time.

  5. Seeing so many young families lose everything is so heartbreaking. I know for my girls at that tender age, home and their belongings were their safe haven. We too know so many affected by Harvey (a lot of Baylor and blog connections). And now another storm brewing so close to so many know and love. Thanks for setting this up Megan and places “FACES” with what’s happened.

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