Employees at a Chevron station near Interstate 75 told a local TV station they sold 18,000 gallons of gas from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. — what they typically sell in a 24-hour period.

Jet Blue, a major airline carrier in Florida, offered $99 direct flights from every city in the state where it operates to help people safely evacuate before churning Irma comes ashore.

Freeport-McMoRan, Inc. has pledged $100,000 dollars today in response to the ongoing destruction and flooding caused by Hurricane Harvey in the Gulf Coast with additional donation through workplace giving and employee match.

Sprouts Farmers Market has donated $50,000 and has also initiated a Round Up Campaign where customers will have the opportunity to round up their purchase to the nearest dollar, or make an incremental donation of $1, $5 or $10. This campaign begins Thursday, August 31 through Sunday, Sept. 3 in most Sprouts stores coast to coast, except Houston and Corpus Christi locations.

Papa John’s Pizza has pledged to donate $1 for every pizza sold on Tuesday, September 5, 2017.
RED CROSS RESPONSE
 
·         Estimates indicate more than 33,800 people sought refuge in more than 240 Red Cross and partner shelters across Texas Tuesday night. Six shelters are also open in Louisiana with more than 450 people.
·         More than 2,000 disaster workers are on the ground, and more than 600 are on the way. They are being joined by a group of highly-skilled volunteers from the Mexican Red Cross who will help support shelters, distribute aid and connect with Spanish speaking disaster survivors to keep them informed about support available to them.
·         There are shelter supplies for more than 70,000 people with supplies for an additional 14,000 enroute.
·         Along with our partners, Red Cross has served more than 250,000 meals and snacks since the storm began. 
·         Red Cross has trailers of kitchen supplies on the ground to support 8 kitchens, each able to produce 10,000 meals a day and 4 more trailers are on the way. There are about 130,000 ready-to-eat meals currently on the ground with an additional 25,000 en route.
·         More than half of the Red Cross emergency response fleet – 200 Emergency Response Vehicles – have been activated for the operation.
·         With blood products prepositioned in Houston and Dallas ahead of the storm, the Red Cross continues to work closely with local, state and federal authorities to deliver blood and platelets to our hospital partners in flood affected areas.
·         More than 18 million hurricane and flood alerts have been issued through Red Cross mobile apps since August 24, well surpassing the 6 million issued for Superstorm Sandy. The alerts provide shelter locations and real-time information so people can help protect themselves and their loved-ones.  
 
 The Red Cross has launched a massive response to this devastating storm and needs financial donations to be able to provide immediate disaster relief. Help people affected by Hurricane Harvey by visiting redcross.org, calling 1- 800-RED CROSS or texting the word HARVEY to 90999 to make a $10 donation.
 
The American Red Cross shelters, feeds and provides emotional support to victims of disasters; supplies about 40 percent of the nation’s blood; teaches skills that save lives; provides international humanitarian aid; and supports military members and their families. The Red Cross is a not-for-profit organization that depends on volunteers and the generosity of the American public to perform its mission. For more information, please visit redcross.org or cruzrojaamericana.org, or visit us on Twitter at @RedCross.
 

Learn more about All Hands Volunteers https://www.hands.org/

If you have SOUTHWEST AIRLINES points, you can donate them to this volunteer organization through http://southwest.com

Denny Wilson, Austin

http://a.msn.com/09/en-us/AAqX19c?ocid=se

Go to state of Texas website to see how you can help. Do not answer unsolicited emails requesting help or offering stories how a donation from you will help Harvey victims. Donate through the Red Cross or Salvation Army to get your funds immediately to victims and or for blood donations. There are MANY false spam fraud emails that look authentic.

DON’T FALL FOR THEM. Contact your local churches or synagogues to see if any are organizing donations and shipments of goods. If you get a suspicious email, post it here as a comment. Don’t let others get scammed because you are silent.