Harvey Members Relief Fund

Sadly, disaster has struck our region again. The rains remain, causing ever more damage, and is moving east to impact more communities. Harvey will continue to literally rain destruction down as it progresses throughout the week. It is not over.

We know we have members in Corpus Christi who suffered property damage – the extent is still to be determined as many left the area ahead of the storm. A friend of mine who finally left Rockport described that town as simply being “gone”. Houston is under water, and might as well be Atlantis right now – we have 3 chapters there! Beaumont is facing not just water from the sky, but overflowing rivers – we have a chapter there. We are all, by now, sadly familiar with what serious rains can do in Louisiana. This could be so much worse than last year for the 5 chapters there.

The Washington post put it in interesting terms; 9 trillion gallons of water have fallen so far (as of 27 August) – enough to fill the Great Salt Lake twice. Predictions state we could have at least that much more yet to come. The damned thing is headed back out to sea to collect more water before hitting again!

This is going to get worse before it gets better, and it will be some time before we know the full extent of the damage OUR PEOPLE will have suffered. What we can do now is prepare. STARFLEET is family so we will start ‘passing the hat’ here to collect donations. 100% of what we collect will be evenly split between member’s households and sent to them directly. Oversight on this will be myself, my VRC Lucy Franck, my financial adviser, Reed Bates and Brian Landry who was instrumental to the success we had last year during the flooding in Baton Rouge. This is going to a new, permanent account (both bank account and PayPal) for the sole purpose of maintaining a regional assistance fund.

Our specific goal is to help our members with near-term unmet needs. Insurance and government assistance will happen for those that need it, but it takes time. What we learned last year was needs shift so rapidly that by the time specific items are identified, collected and distributed, they are often not the critical need anymore. Money, however, remains king to dealing with the these near term unmet needs.

To donate:
[paypal_donation_button]

Or send money to relief@region3.org

(please use the donate/send money to friends and family option, vs the pay for goods or services option).

 

Known chapters directly impacted:
USS Joan of Arc (Corpus Christi, TX)
USS Spiritwolf (Houston, TX)
USS Zavala (Houston, TX)
USS Endurance (Beaumont, TX)
USS REAPER (Orange, TX)
USS LAFITTE (Lake Charles, LA)

This list will grow as Harvey heads east after having recharged in the gulf.

 

Please consider giving to this cause – it is our own people, our family.

 

Jeremy Carsten
Regional Coordinator,
STARFLEET Region 3

 

(UPDATE 8/29/2017, 2:04PM – added two more chapters impacted)

4 thoughts on “Harvey Members Relief Fund”

  1. You might want to add the following Chapters.
    USS REAPER
    USS LAFITTE
    As they are currently being impacted by the storm.

  2. I’ve already donated to the Salvation Army – wish I had seen this sooner. But am able to help a little to my SFI family. Hope it helps. If everyone gives a little, it adds up to a lot!

    My heart goes out to all of you…

    Jude

  3. As the XO of the USS Crockett, I have donated $50.00 to the Region 3 Relief Fund and issue a challenge to all of the other XOs in Reg 3, to match or better my donation. We can all Engage in the effort to help out our fellow SFI Members, so let’s Make It So!!!!

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