Hurricane Harvey and its subsequent floods have impacted more than 1 million students in 244 public and charter school districts statewide, according to the Texas Education Agency. And that total doesn’t take into account the region’s impacted college students or K-12 students in Louisiana who are starting to see flooding as a result of Harvey’s path.

Though the full impact of Harvey on students and schools will remain unknown for months to come, members of NACAC have been asking what they can do to help.

Here are some ways you can help your colleagues and the impacted schools in Texas.

• Our affiliate, the Texas Association for College Admission Counseling (TACAC), has created a Hurricane Harvey Relief fund. All funds collected by the Anne Naman Fund until the end of September will be donated to the high schools and colleges affected by Harvey.
• The Houston Independent School District (HISD) Foundation is accepting donations to help families recover. Make sure to specify “Harvey” as the purpose for your donation.
• Donors Choose has created a Hurricane Harvey Relief Fund that will help teachers rebuild and restock their classrooms.
• A group of school administrators has created an “Adopt a School” campaign to help those impacted by Hurricane Harvey.
•  NACAC will host a Red Cross Blood Drive on Friday, Sept. 15 from  9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the 2017 National Conference in Boston. Attendees are encouraged to sign up for an appointment, as space is limited. DipJars for donations for the Red Cross will also be available at the conference.

“So many folks on both sides of the desk are prepared to do whatever, whether that be helping students with essays because their college counselors aren’t back at work or whether that means helping putting on programming for displaced students,” said Jeff Fuller, the director of college counseling at Strake Jesuit College Preparatory School in Houston.

Though he stressed that basic needs and safety concerns must be met before this type of help is needed, Fuller said that his colleagues’ words and actions during this time have made him proud to be a counselor.

“At times like this it definitely demonstrates everyone’s commitment to wanting to do something and do more and that in and of itself speaks volumes about how giving this community is,” Fuller said. “It’s just a blessing to know and work with people like this.”

NACAC is continuing to monitor the damages from Hurricane Harvey and the path of Hurricane Irma. Please check the NACAC website for the latest updates.

Ashley Dobson is NACAC’s communications manager for content and social media. You can reach her at adobson@nacacnet.org.