You are reading

AOC Helps Raise $4 Million for Texas Relief Effort, Visits The Troubled State

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in Houston distributing food and water to Texans in need (twitter@aoc)

Feb. 22, 2021 By Christina Santucci

Queens Congress member Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has helped raise more than $4 million for relief efforts in Texas, where a winter storm and ensuing power outages wreaked havoc last week.

Ocasio-Cortez announced the fundraising milestone in a tweet Saturday. Donations will be split evenly among 12 food banks and organizations that help the homeless.

“These groups are working around the clock to assist houseless, hungry and senior Texans in Travis and Dallas County, and beyond,” the fundraiser page states.

Ocasio-Cortez flew to Texas Friday, and visited food distributions, water delivery sites and the homes of impacted residents Saturday with fellow U.S. Reps. Sylvia R. Garcia and Sheila Jackson Lee, who represent Houston.

“Charity isn’t a replacement for good governance, but we won’t turn away from helping people in need when things hit the fan,” Ocasio-Cortez tweeted.

Meanwhile, Queens community groups also organized their own fundraisers for Texans, using the hashtag: QNSLovesTexas.

For instance, the Sunnyside-Woodside Mutual Aid Network teamed up with eight other organizations collected raised more than $6,000. The organizations wrapped up the drive once they reached their goal, but asked residents who wanted to donate to give directly to the six Texas organizations that received the funds they raised.

The winter storm led to dozens of deaths in Texas, and knocked out power for millions of people in the state for days. At one point, four million people were without power, and 14 million Texas residents still didn’t have running water or were under boil water notices as of Saturday.

There are also reports of widespread property damage across the state as water pipes froze or burst. President Joe Biden signed a major disaster declaration Friday for 77 counties in Texas, which allows impacted residents to file for federal assistance to cover temporary lodging, home repairs and uninsured property losses.

email the author: news@queenspost.com
No comments yet

Leave a Comment
Reply to this Comment

All comments are subject to moderation before being posted.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Recent News

Hate crimes task force probes antisemitic assault on F train in Jamaica Hills: NYPD

The NYPD’s Hate Crimes Task Force is investigating an antisemitic assault on a subway train in Jamaica Hills during the morning rush on Monday, Jan. 13.

The 27-year-old victim in the attack was onboard a northbound F train that was approaching the Parsons Boulevard subway station at 7 a.m. when a stranger began shouting antisemitic rhetoric at him before he slapped him and then punched him in the face.

Gunman wanted for firing at livery cab in Flushing over fare dispute: NYPD

Police from the 109th Precinct in Flushing are looking for a gunman who opened fire at a livery cab near the Shops at Skyview on Saturday morning.

The suspect was getting dropped off in front of 40-28 College Point Blvd. in Flushing when he got into a dispute with the 63-year-old driver. The two argued about the fare, and the suspect exited the vehicle and started to run away. He was seen on video surveillance pulling out a firearm and firing a shot while on the run that missed the cab and struck the pavement. The driver was not injured, and there was no property damage, an NYPD spokeswoman said Thursday.