THE GOOD
American-born author, filmmaker, philosopher, cultural critic, essayist, and poet Suzy Kassem, in her first book Rise Up and Salute the Sun wrote “To know the good from the bad, study a man or woman’s history of actions, not their record of intentions.”
Harvey dumped over a trillion gallons of water, more than Katrina and Superstorm Sandy combined, enough to lower the land level from its sheer weight. But it did not sink Houstonians’ spirit of kindness, love, and determination in a crisis situation.
There are countless stories of rescued survivors, but the amazing story of two brothers and two high school friends who braved hazardous conditions while spending hours rescuing over 50 people and numerous pets in a small fishing boat is astounding. Seventeen-year-old Thomas Edwards, along with his brother Declan and friends Richard Dickason and Liam Connor are beyond praise.
FEMA’s search and rescue teams came early and often with their experience from Katrina to save over 3,000 lives.
Houston SPCA organized more than 220 reunions. They also took in more than 1,200 pets and farm animals, as well as about 700 wild animals, for which they provided shelter and veterinary care. Special Pals reunited two pets with their families.
Big-hearted Jim McIngvale, better known as “Mattress Mack,” opened his company’s showrooms and pleaded with people in an online video to take shelter in his makeshift shelter. NPR reported that as flooding began, McIngvale shared an online video, inviting anyone to seek shelter with him. He offered his personal phone number and invited people to sleep on hundreds of mattresses and chairs throughout his store. His delivery truck drivers picked up stranded people.
J.J. Watt Foundation initially set out to raise two hundred thousand dollars after Hurricane Harvey. Today, with over 37 million dollars raised “from across the country and around the world,” according to Watt, he will shepherd his contributions to help rebuild homes; Save the Children, an international non-governmental organization that promotes children’s rights, provides relief, and helps support children in developing countries; Feeding America, an U.S.-based nonprofit organization that is a nationwide network of more than 200 food banks that feed more than 46 million people through food pantries, soup kitchens, shelters, and other community-based agencies, and Americares, a non-profit disaster relief and global health organization providing immediate response to emergency medical needs and supporting long-term health care initiatives for people in the United States and around the world.
In Austin, Willie Nelson and Paul Simon hosted a concert by a group of entertainers that benefited the Rebuild Texas Fund, which was created by Houstonian native Michael Dell and wife Susan. Their goal was to raise 100 million dollars for long-term relief.
A leader in community outreach after Harvey was the Second Baptist Church. The congregations’ six locations and Houston Strong tagline to “Mobilize to serve. Motivated by love.” motto took them to a level that most small (and even large) businesses would envy. In the aftermath, the church’s playbook deployed a Needs Assessment Team (NAT), which provided structured and fulfillment capabilities to help feed as many people as possible. The deployed volunteers and companies resulted in a staggering accomplishment that resulted in:
- 40,733 volunteers
- 2,405 homes/schools/churches cleaned – valued at $36 million
- 37,429 bags of groceries distributed
- 84,706 hot meals served
- Online application for FEMA assistance offered at all campuses for three weeks
By challenging the business community similar to the Ice Bucket Challenge and calling it the Houston Strong Challenge, Second Baptist recruited 120 corporations, churches, and schools, sending employees to the church to grab supplies and clean homes. Keller Williams sent 48 buses carrying 2,121 people from Austin over a three-day period to assist with cleanup and food bank efforts.
We should all be proud to be from Houston.