The Kansas Food Bank is part of a Feeding America disaster response team to help those impacted by Hurricane Harvey. If you would like to help with disaster relief efforts, please click here to make financial donations to our friends at Feeding Texas or click here to make a donation to Feeding America.

Donations

A financial contribution to a recognized disaster relief organization is the most effective donation to make. Public and private sector support of these voluntary organizations with financial contributions helps to ensure a steady flow of important services to our residents who have been impacted by Hurricane Harvey. A financial contribution:

• Is the most needed and most efficient way of helping those impacted by Hurricane Harvey.
• Allows voluntary organizations to fund response and recovery efforts, obtain goods and services locally, and provide direct financial assistance to Hurricane Harvey survivors to meet their own needs.
• Allows you to make a financial contribution to the voluntary organization of your choice.

If you need help in determining who to give to, the Texas Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (Texas VOAD) website has a list of vetted disaster relief organizations who are providing services to their residents. Texas VOAD represents more than three dozen faith-based, community, nonprofit and non-governmental organizations. Unsolicited donated goods, such as used clothing, miscellaneous household items, and mixed or perishable foodstuffs, require helping agencies to redirect valuable resources away from providing services to sort, package, transport, warehouse, and distribute items that may not meet the needs of disaster survivors.

Volunteering

If you wish to volunteer in response to Hurricane Harvey, please visit the Texas Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster website for a list of more than three dozen faith-based, community, nonprofit and non-governmental organizations that include volunteer engagement as a key component of their operations.

Please be patient and do not self deploy, as unexpectedly showing up to any of the communities that have been impacted by Hurricane Harvey will create an additional burden for first responders.

Although the need is great, and desire to help strong, it is important for residents to avoid donating material goods or self-deploying to help until our communities are safe and public officials and disaster relief organizations have had an opportunity to assess the damage and identify what the specific unmet needs are. Please continue to monitor this website for updated information.

It is the generous spirit of our residents, nonprofits organizations, faith-based organizations, community-based organizations, private sector partners, and governmental agencies and partners working in a coordinated effort that will most effectively and efficiently help Texans recovery from Hurricane Harvey.

For more information on local efforts visit http://www.news9.com/story/36230853/ways-to-donate-to-and-help-with-harvey-relief.