Carlos Correa and José Altuve donate food to victims of a Texas winter storm

Thousands of families in Houston, Texas, were badly affected by the catastrophic winter storm that left much of the city without essential services and killed about 70 people.

The emergency mobilized several nonprofits, including Santa Isabel’s Correa Family Foundation, short stop Carlos Correa, who joined forces with his Houston Astros teammate, Venezuelan José Altuve, by jointly contributing $ 50,000 to alleviate the crisis . Humanitarian aid through the distribution of healthy meals and water.

“It was extremely sad to see our city of Houston suffer from a lack of food and water, and to see so many families with children going hungry and cold. José and I view this joint effort as a humble way of expressing our commitment and gratitude to the community that means so much to us. We also want to inspire many others and together alleviate some of the suffering caused by this natural disaster, ”Correa said in written statements.

According to the organization’s president, oncologist Ricardo Flores, the historic snowfall exacerbated the living conditions of many families who, without heating, took refuge in their respective cars to escape the freezing temperatures, causing monoxide poisoning.

“What a lot of people don’t know except for the cold, the snow and all, but the biggest problem is that Houston was not prepared for this kind of weather and we literally went to bed on Sunday and waited for a little cold and snow, but when everyone got up there was a few inches of snow, there was no communication, there was no cell phone, there was no internet, most people had no electricity, and many people had no water, ”said Flores, the clinical director of the Texas Children Cancer Center in Woodlands.

“In my case, I couldn’t go to the hospital either, and when I got there, all the emergencies started to come in. There have been over 600 cases of carbon monoxide poisoning because they are not prepared here and they are not using cars or furnaces properly for heating and are looking for other ways to heat themselves and they have been poisoned with carbon monoxide and many deaths have occurred, about 60 years of hypothermia and poisoning … an eight-year-old boy died frozen, ”he complained.

Once essential services were restored, these philanthropists were activated to help poor communities, many of which live in mobile homes, lacking food, water and electricity.

“We reach out to those communities and create campaigns to help them. That’s why we’ve set up a fundraising campaign and joined other nonprofit foundations because they have ties to grocery stores and restaurants and for every $ 2 we receive in donations, a meal can be delivered directly to the children’s home and families in need, ”Revealed he.

Today (yesterday Saturday) Carlos along with José Altuve of the Astros announced that they have donated 25,000 meals and that’s how the community has helped us, we brought nearly $ 60,000 that we raised and Carlos had to go to Spring Travel training. in Florida, but his parents and wife (Daniella) stayed here delivering meals, going straight to communities in need and bringing food and water, ”he said.

He said other organizations such as Kid’s Meals Inc and the National Association Christian Churches (NACC) Disaster Services have been added to the initiative, which work together to provide food to families as well as police and government officials working in emergency situations.

“We actually deliver food that is the most immediate need every day, especially water because there is no water in much of Houston, even in hospitals where there is very little pressure. Then we are going to focus on raising funds to restore the houses, because many of the houses have been lost, where the pipes have exploded, those houses have been lost, and right now there are many people who are going to be homeless, said the doctor.

“Now we are starting to see other problems that will be more permanent and will require long-term help,” he said.

Meanwhile, he urged citizens to join this mission by reiterating that for every $ 2 they receive, hot food is delivered to a family in need.

“Any financial aid will really make a big difference because for every $ 2 they contribute to us, thanks to the connections we have, that’s equivalent to a meal arriving to a needy family and currently 6,400 meals are specifically for children. and they clearly give a lot more to adults, ”he emphasized.

To contribute, you can access: Correafamilyfoundation.org and Carlos and Danilla Correa’s social networks.