Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in Houston distributing food and water to Texans in need (twitter@aoc)
Feb. 22, 2021 By Christina Santucci
Queens Congress member Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has helped raise more than $4 million for relief efforts in Texas, where a winter storm and ensuing power outages wreaked havoc last week.
Ocasio-Cortez announced the fundraising milestone in a tweet Saturday. Donations will be split evenly among 12 food banks and organizations that help the homeless.
“These groups are working around the clock to assist houseless, hungry and senior Texans in Travis and Dallas County, and beyond,” the fundraiser page states.
Ocasio-Cortez flew to Texas Friday, and visited food distributions, water delivery sites and the homes of impacted residents Saturday with fellow U.S. Reps. Sylvia R. Garcia and Sheila Jackson Lee, who represent Houston.
“Charity isn’t a replacement for good governance, but we won’t turn away from helping people in need when things hit the fan,” Ocasio-Cortez tweeted.
Meanwhile, Queens community groups also organized their own fundraisers for Texans, using the hashtag: QNSLovesTexas.
For instance, the Sunnyside-Woodside Mutual Aid Network teamed up with eight other organizations collected raised more than $6,000. The organizations wrapped up the drive once they reached their goal, but asked residents who wanted to donate to give directly to the six Texas organizations that received the funds they raised.
The winter storm led to dozens of deaths in Texas, and knocked out power for millions of people in the state for days. At one point, four million people were without power, and 14 million Texas residents still didn’t have running water or were under boil water notices as of Saturday.
There are also reports of widespread property damage across the state as water pipes froze or burst. President Joe Biden signed a major disaster declaration Friday for 77 counties in Texas, which allows impacted residents to file for federal assistance to cover temporary lodging, home repairs and uninsured property losses.
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18 Comments
Like we don’t have enough reasons to love AOC. Now we have another. Amazing woman doing amazing work for the people who need it most. ❤?
AOC is a true angel!
I can’t wait till AOC turns 36 so she can run for President. A fine human being.
I’m down w/ AOC. Love her. She doesn’t just talk, she does. She really cares!
Democrats like AOC work for The People. Always have. Trickle down Kindness.
AOC will run for POTUS one day!!!
I’m so proud of AOC, she is setting an example of what a good representative should be.
Why didn’t she raise 4 million for her district in Queens and the Bronx during the pandemic?AOC going to Texas was nothing more than a photo op. How exactly did she raise the money?
She did. https://qns.com/2020/08/queens-rep-ocasio-cortez-meets-1-million-goal-for-covid-19-relief-sets-new-fundraising-initiative/
Agreed, if Texas’ own congressman is going on beach vacations instead of helping his state, why should AOC be helping them?!
Ted is a Senator, not a congressman. ?
Ted Cancrúz isn’t either, he’s a sunbather. “Fend for yourself Texas!”
Thank you for the correction! Ted took a vacation while his constituents were dying, but he’s not a congressman!
“AOC going to Texas was nothing more than a photo op” but Ted going on a beach vacation AWAY from Texas was…really important because, um ?
the only difference i know of is that a senator represents his state while a congressman represents their small district. Ted is done.
Politicians should only respond to disasters that happen in their district?? The politicizing never ends.
Thank you Queens Congress member Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. This is personal to me because i have family who live in texas. So proud to live in her district. She went to texas to help despite it being a state full of so many trump supporters and hate. She is brave and kind and for the working people.
AOC will be president one day. She is respected and admired by many and the democratic/progressive base will get stronger and unite as the years go by. Our diverse youth population will soon reach the voting age and this also will help.
@Matritza I get you are a fan of AOC. Some people in Queens and the Bronx voted for her, but she will never be President. She is going to the follow the money, and that doesn’t mean politics.