Your gift is a truck on a street that hasn't been cleared yet.

HELP runs on volunteer labor and donated dollars, raised and spent in Orange County. Nobody here is drawing a salary off your generosity — it goes into fuel tanks, tool bags, supply pallets and the software that points them all in the right direction.

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Secure checkout. Cards, bank transfer, Apple Pay and Google Pay accepted. Receipt emailed immediately.

Storm-Ready Fund of ·

Closes .

What it buys

Costs we can name.

We'd rather show you the invoice than the slogan.

Chainsaw, bar, chain and case$420

Cuts a family out of their own driveway. Lasts for years.

Roof tarp kit, one home$85

Stops the second disaster: the rain that comes through the hole.

Crew PPE for a deployment$110

Respirators, gloves, eye protection and boots. Mold is not optional to plan for.

Fuel and hauling, one crew day$260

Trucks, trailers, dump fees. The unglamorous half of the work.

A weekend response hub$1,500

Generator, water, food, comms, signage and coffee for everyone who walks up.

The Ready Crew

Monthly giving is what lets us leave first.

Disaster fundraising arrives late. Donations spike a week after landfall — which is five days after the first tarp should have gone up.

Recurring gifts break that cycle. They let us buy blades before hurricane season, keep the trailers registered, hold reserve fuel, and put a crew on the road the morning the wind drops instead of waiting for the appeal to work.

  • Gear bought before the price triples
  • Crews dispatched on day one, not day five
  • Predictable funding for the app, which never takes a season off
  • Cancel any time, in one click, no phone call

Join the Ready Crew

HELP volunteers and partner crews assembled in a storm-damaged neighborhood.
Getting this many people to the right block on the right day is the entire job.

Build fund

Fund the app, and you fund every responder who uses it.

The HELP app is free software for communities in disaster. No ads, no data sales, no per-seat fees when a church in Vidor or Bridge City wants to coordinate its own neighborhood. That model only works if donors pay for it up front.

The current phase — field beta — is budgeted at $48,000 and covers offline operation, a dispatcher console, photo verification, SMS fallback and an independent security review before a single resident's address is entered.

See the full six-phase timeline and budget →

Where your money goes

Other ways to give

Cash isn't the only currency.

In-kind gear

Saws, generators, trailers, pumps, tarps, water, fuel cards, respirators, work gloves. Deductible, and deployed within days.

Stock & crypto

Appreciated assets given directly avoid capital gains tax, so the gift costs you less and gives us more.

Donor-advised funds

Recommend a grant to HELP from your DAF. We'll supply whatever documentation your sponsor requires.

Employer matching

Many employers match gifts dollar for dollar and some fund volunteer hours. Check your HR portal — it takes minutes.

Fundraise for us

Birthdays, tournaments, church drives, company challenges. We'll give you photos, numbers and a thank-you for your donors.

Legacy giving

Name HELP in a will, trust or beneficiary designation and keep a crew on the road long after the storms you remember.

Questions about any of these? Write to our team and a person will answer — usually the same day.

Giving questions

Before you give.

The answers we'd want if we were on your side of this page.

Is my gift tax-deductible?

Yes, to the extent allowed by law. You'll receive an emailed receipt immediately and a written acknowledgement for gifts over $250. Our EIN is .

How much of my donation reaches the work?

Our target is that at least 90 cents of every dollar goes to programs — field operations, equipment and the app. Payment processing fees are the main unavoidable deduction; you can cover those at checkout if you'd like to.

Can I say what my gift is for?

Yes. Restrict it to field operations, the app build fund, equipment, or a specific Southeast Texas community. Note it at checkout and we'll honor the restriction.

Can I cancel or change a monthly gift?

Any time, from the link in your receipt, or by emailing us. No phone tree, no retention script.

Do you share or sell donor information?

Never. We don't rent, sell or trade donor data, and we don't publish names without permission.

What if I'd rather give my time?

Even better. Sign up to volunteer — no experience required, and no minimum commitment.