Military charity Operation Supply Drop (OSD) has mobilized its volunteer membership to help aid the victims of Hurricane Harvey in Texas. In a press release issued today, executive director Glenn D. Banton, Sr. made a formal request for money to help in that effort.
“We currently have a supply line in place from Austin through San Antonio that then connects to multiple forward operating bases in and around Houston and cities across South Texas,” Banton said. “While physical donations are currently pouring in, we need to ensure that we continue to see the need and meet the need with often overlooked items as well as to ensure our volunteers, staff and those we serve have gas for trucks and boats, food, water and shelter for what will be an effort beyond recovery and resupply continuing into 2018 with clean-up and rebuilding.”
OSD was founded in 2010 by former U.S. Army Ranger and Iraq War veteran Stephen Machuga. The organization started in his home, where Machuga would collect and ship games and game consoles to active duty troops deployed around the world. Machuga, who left the organization in 2015 under unusual circumstances, helped grow OSD into the premier military charity it is today.
Under Banton’s direction, OSD has expanded its mission with something called The Teams, mixed groups of stateside veterans and civilians who serve military populations on a local level. The Teams have grown to have 37 chapters around the country, and have accrued over 9,000 hours of volunteer work. It is members of The Teams who are working right now, Banton said, to help victims of Hurricane Harvey.
Donations can be made online at OSD’s Hurricane Harvey Impact Fund website. There, you will also find the opportunity to become a fundraiser yourself and either join an existing fundraising team or start your own. The page says that money will be used to purchase baby supplies, fuel for boats, personal hygiene kits and electrical generators.
Our sister site Vox has more information on where to donate money for victims of Harvey, including the American Red Cross and local food banks.