Amonté Martin was sitting next to his 2-year-old son watching the news about Houston’s flooding when he was moved to act.
He saw a news story about a father and son in Houston walking along a bridge; they had lost everything and had been rescued via helicopter.
“I just want to create an avenue for people to give,” the 28-year-old said.
Martin, a UF environmental justice doctoral student, set up five different on-campus donation stations to collect nonperishable food and clothing for Harvey victims. He also set up a GoFundMe page, called #ChompChomp4Houston, to raise money to ship the collected items.
“All the proceeds are going towards shipping the clothes and the food,” said Martin.
The GoFundMe page will be accepting donations until Oct. 6, he said. Martin wants to partner with organizations around campus like Target Copy and the UF Athletic Department to help raise awareness for his campaign.
“At the end of the day whatever we do is just going to be a drop in a bucket, but at least it’s a drop or two to help someone in need,” Martin said.
However, as Hurricane Irma approaches, Martin says he has noticed a lull in donations, which he attributes to people needing to stock their own homes in preparation for the storm.
He says he will also consider altering his own personal campaign to help those in Florida.
“Right now it’s still focused on Houston, but probably on Monday we will refocus on Miami,” Martin said.
Jireh Davis, a 20-year-old UF African-American studies and political science junior, started the Help for Houston campaign.
“I’m not from Houston but I do have family who is from Houston, and they’re OK, but there are so many families that are not okay,” Davis said. “It breaks my heart because I just feel like if it was us I’d want someone to help us.”
The campaign collected items this week but Davis said there may be another collection later.
Derrick Kerr, a 20-year-old UF mechanical engineering junior, said most of the collection was clothing. Kerr and Davis will work with Houston Recovers to disperse their donations, says Kerr.
“We hope to help the community of Houston and Texas as a whole because they are in need of a lot at the moment,” Kerr said. “And we just want to, you know, change a life or two, even if it’s just a few people.”
Derrick Kerr, a 20-year-old UF mechanical engineering junior, stands outside of the Reitz Union to collect donations for Harvey victims. He is volunteering with Help For Houston.
