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Hurricane Harvey has caused widespread and ongoing damage throughout areas of Texas and Louisiana, and the humanitarian effort to help rescue residents and restore normalcy is a massive and expensive one. People everywhere are finding ways to donate money, time and resources to the Houston area and others affected by this, and that includes a number of NFL players, especially those who have called Texas home.
One such Houston native, Cleveland Browns defensive end Emmanuel Ogbah, spoke on Tuesday about how his loved ones are faring and his plans to supply help to his hometown.
#Browns LB Emmanuel Ogbah & teammates discussing how they can help with Harvey relief efforts in Houston pic.twitter.com/EWprsMNesk
— Daryl Ruiter (@RuiterWrongFAN) August 29, 2017
Ogbah said that his “family is doing okay right now,” but that he has heard from friends of his whose homes are flooded. He said that watching the coverage of the disaster “definitely sucks and it hurts,” adding, “I am seeing on the news places that I drove past like every day are under water. It is definitely crazy.”
Though Ogbah said he is “definitely praying for those people down there, their families and the victims,” he is also working to collaborate with his Browns teammates to find a way to send aid, noting that he’s already had discussions about it with two other Texas natives—kicker Zane Gonzalez and receiver Corey Coleman.
Ogbah is uplifted by seeing reports of Houstonians helping one another to safety and shelter, saying, “Us Houstonians, we stand together. We help out each other. We do whatever we can to help each other out.” But it also sounds like an Ogbah-led group of Browns players may soon send material assistance to those who need it. As Ogbah said, “We have to strive, we have to do whatever we can to help the less fortunate and get them out of those situations.”
A number of NFL players are raising money and other resources for the hard-hit areas of Texas and Louisiana. The highest-profile by far has been the Houston Texans’ J.J. Watt, whose efforts via a crowdfunding campaign has raised over $3 million.
But you don’t have to be a multi-millionaire or have the social media pull of someone like Ogbah or Watt to make a difference. Here is a link to numerous charities and emergency relief organizations that could use any financial assistance you are able to offer.