The President and the First Lady will donate a collective $1 million of their own money to 12 different charitable organizations helping in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey, the White House announced Wednesday.

Hurricane Harvey, which was subsequently downgraded to a tropical storm, made landfall on Aug. 25, ravaging Texas and Louisiana with record levels of flooding that left at least 70 people dead and thousands of homes destroyed.

The largest donations by the First Couple are to the Red Cross and the Salvation Army, each expected to receive $300,000, according to the White House. Samaritan’s Purse, an evangelical Christian organization that provides aid globally to those in need, will receive $100,000, as will Reach out America, a non-profit organization focused specifically on helping children.

Eight other organizations, including the ASPCA, Habitat for Humanity and the Houston Humane society, will receive a $25,000 donation.

It was unclear from the White House’s statement if the donations had already been made, or would be made shortly. A White House official did not immediately respond to request for comment.

President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump visited both Texas and Louisiana during the height of the flooding. The White House said the selection of these donations was partially determined by these visits as well as recommendations from the White House Press Corps. White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders had requested these recommendations from the press corps when she announced the President’s decision to donate $1 million on August 31.</s>WASHINGTON (AP) — The House on Wednesday overwhelmingly passed $7.9 billion in Hurricane Harvey disaster relief as warring Republicans and Democrats united behind help for victims of that storm as an ever more powerful new hurricane bore down on Florida.

The 419-3 vote sent the aid package — likely the first of several — to the Senate in hopes of sending the bill to President Donald Trump before dwindling federal disaster reserves run out at the end of this week.

“Help is on the way,” said Texas GOP Rep. John Culberson, whose Houston district was slammed by the storm. “The scale of the tragedy is unimaginable. But in the midst of all this, and all the suffering, it really reflects the American character, how people from all over the country stepped up to help Houstonians recover from this.”

The first installment in Harvey aid is to handle the immediate emergency needs and replenish Federal Emergency Management Agency reserves in advance of Hurricane Irma, which is barreling through the Caribbean toward Florida.

“This is a chance to be your brother’s keeper,” said Houston Democratic Rep. Al Green. “This is chance for the unity that we express when we’re before the cameras to manifest itself in the votes that we cast here in Congress.”

Far more money will be needed once more complete estimates are in this fall, and Harvey could end up exceeding the $110 billion government cost of Hurricane Katrina.

“My friends and neighbors’ homes were completely flattened by Hurricane Harvey’s winds. Businesses were destroyed,” said Rep. Blake Farenthold, R-Texas. “FEMA will be out of money in just two or three days if we don’t pass this.”

Politics quickly intruded as Democratic leaders insisted they would back the measure in the Senate only if it were linked to a short-term increase in the nation’s borrowing limit, not the longer-term hike that Republicans and the Trump administration want.

And some Democrats from the New York delegation reminded Texas Republicans that they opposed a larger aid bill for those harmed by Superstorm Sandy in the Northeast five years ago.

“What you did to us during Superstorm Sandy should not stand, should not be done to any other people, anyplace in the country,” said Rep. Eliot Engel, D-N.Y. “We’re one country, we’re Americans. We need to help those who need help.”

In the Senate, GOP leaders want to link a long-term increase in the debt limit — until 2019 — to the Harvey aid, but that plan faces opposition from conservatives and thus will need Democratic votes.

“I think it’s a terrible idea,” said House Freedom Caucus Chairman Mark Meadows, R-N.C., who conceded that conservatives were getting outmaneuvered.

“I think at this point there are bigger issues that we have to focus on,” Meadows said.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York want to retain Democratic influence and trying to ensure the Republican-controlled Congress addresses health care and immigration as the hectic fall agenda kicks off.

“Given Republican difficulty in finding the votes for their plan, we believe this proposal offers a bipartisan path forward to ensure prompt delivery of Harvey aid as well as avoiding a default, while both sides work together to address government funding, DREAMERS, and health care,” Pelosi and Schumer wrote.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said again Wednesday that increased Harvey costs show the importance of acting swiftly to increase the government’s debt cap to make sure there’s enough borrowed cash to pay out the surge in disaster aid.

Analysts at the Bipartisan Policy Center, a Washington think tank, say Harvey aid wouldn’t cause a cash crunch for weeks.</s>WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump are donating a total of $1 million to a dozen organizations involved in Harvey relief work, including the American Red Cross, the Salvation Army and Habitat for Humanity, the White House announced Wednesday.

The American Red Cross and Salvation Army will each receive $300,000; Samaritan's Purse and Reachout America will collect $100,000 each.

The Trumps are giving $25,000 each to eight other organizations: the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, Catholic Charities, Direct Relief, Habitat for Humanity, Houston Humane Society, Operation Blessing, Portlight Inclusive Disaster Strategies and Team Rubicon.

The White House said the donations are coming from the president's personal funds.

Harvey slammed into the Gulf Coast of Texas on Aug. 25 as a Category 4 hurricane. It was soon downgraded to a tropical storm but lingered for days, dropping up to 50 inches of rain on Houston and the surrounding area before moving eastward to Louisiana. Homes and roads spent days under feet of water.

The Trumps visited Corpus Christi, Texas, and Austin on Aug. 29. They returned to the region Saturday, visiting Houston and Lake Charles, Louisiana, which also was battered by Harvey. Vice President Mike Pence and his wife, Karen, also visited Texas.

"Our hearts are heavy with sadness for those who lost everything," Trump said Wednesday at an event in North Dakota to pitch his plan for overhauling the tax code.

"They've also filled us with hope," he said, speaking of having witnessed the "unyielding strength and resilience of the American spirit."

White House spokeswoman Lindsay Walters said the Trumps saw some of these groups in action while visiting with hurricane survivors, first responders, volunteers and government officials during their visits to the region. She said Trump and Mrs. Trump continue to pray for all who have been affected.

The American Red Cross said it is "grateful to the Trumps for their generous support of our mission."

The White House first said last week that Trump wanted to make a donation, and sought suggestions from journalists on where he should contribute.

"He would like to join in the efforts that a lot of the people that we've seen across this country do," White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters last week, two days after Trump first visited post-Harvey Texas.

"And he's pledging a million dollars of personal money to the fund," Sanders said "And he's actually asked that I check with the folks in this room, since you are very good at research and have been doing a lot of reporting into the groups and organizations that are best and most effective in helping and providing aid, and he'd love some suggestions from the folks here."

Trump met with three relief groups — the American Red Cross, Southern Baptist Relief and Salvation Army — in the Oval Office last Friday.</s>President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump are donating $1 million of their personal money to various organization in the wake of Hurricane Harvey.

The President and First Lady visited Houston and Lake Charles over the weekend.

The following 12 organizations will be receiving a portion of the $1 million:</s>WASHINGTON (AP) — The House on Wednesday overwhelmingly passed $7.9 billion in Hurricane Harvey disaster relief as warring Republicans and Democrats united behind help for victims of that storm as an ever more powerful new hurricane bore down on Florida.

The 419-3 vote sent the aid package — likely the first of several — to the Senate in hopes of sending the bill to President Donald Trump before dwindling federal disaster reserves run out at the end of this week.

“Help is on the way,” said Texas GOP Rep. John Culberson, whose Houston district was slammed by the storm. “The scale of the tragedy is unimaginable. But in the midst of all this, and all the suffering, it really reflects the American character, how people from all over the country stepped up to help Houstonians recover from this.”

The first installment in Harvey aid is to handle the immediate emergency needs and replenish Federal Emergency Management Agency reserves in advance of Hurricane Irma, which is barreling through the Caribbean toward Florida.

“This is a chance to be your brother’s keeper,” said Houston Democratic Rep. Al Green. “This is chance for the unity that we express when we’re before the cameras to manifest itself in the votes that we cast here in Congress.”

Far more money will be needed once more complete estimates are in this fall, and Harvey could end up exceeding the $110 billion government cost of Hurricane Katrina.

“My friends and neighbors’ homes were completely flattened by Hurricane Harvey’s winds. Businesses were destroyed,” said Rep. Blake Farenthold, R-Texas. “FEMA will be out of money in just two or three days if we don’t pass this.”

Politics quickly intruded as Democratic leaders insisted they would back the measure in the Senate only if it were linked to a short-term increase in the nation’s borrowing limit, not the longer-term hike that Republicans and the Trump administration want.

And some Democrats from the New York delegation reminded Texas Republicans that they opposed a larger aid bill for those harmed by Superstorm Sandy in the Northeast five years ago.

“What you did to us during Superstorm Sandy should not stand, should not be done to any other people, anyplace in the country,” said Rep. Eliot Engel, D-N.Y. “We’re one country, we’re Americans. We need to help those who need help.”

In the Senate, GOP leaders want to link a long-term increase in the debt limit — until 2019 — to the Harvey aid, but that plan faces opposition from conservatives and thus will need Democratic votes.

“I think it’s a terrible idea,” said House Freedom Caucus Chairman Mark Meadows, R-N.C., who conceded that conservatives were getting outmaneuvered.

“I think at this point there are bigger issues that we have to focus on,” Meadows said.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York want to retain Democratic influence and trying to ensure the Republican-controlled Congress addresses health care and immigration as the hectic fall agenda kicks off.

“Given Republican difficulty in finding the votes for their plan, we believe this proposal offers a bipartisan path forward to ensure prompt delivery of Harvey aid as well as avoiding a default, while both sides work together to address government funding, DREAMERS, and health care,” Pelosi and Schumer wrote.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said again Wednesday that increased Harvey costs show the importance of acting swiftly to increase the government’s debt cap to make sure there’s enough borrowed cash to pay out the surge in disaster aid.

Analysts at the Bipartisan Policy Center, a Washington think tank, say Harvey aid wouldn’t cause a cash crunch for weeks.
• Download the WISH-TV app for your iPhone/iPad in the App Store
• Download the WISH-TV app in the Google Play store</s>WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump are donating a total of $1 million to a dozen organizations involved in Harvey relief work, including the American Red Cross, the Salvation Army and Habitat for Humanity, the White House announced Wednesday.

The American Red Cross and Salvation Army will each receive $300,000; Samaritan's Purse and Reachout America will collect $100,000 each.

The Trumps are giving $25,000 each to eight other organizations: the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, Catholic Charities, Direct Relief, Habitat for Humanity, Houston Humane Society, Operation Blessing, Portlight Inclusive Disaster Strategies and Team Rubicon.

The White House said the donations are coming from the president's personal funds.

Harvey slammed into the Gulf Coast of Texas on Aug. 25 as a Category 4 hurricane. It was soon downgraded to a tropical storm but lingered for days, dropping up to 50 inches of rain on Houston and the surrounding area before moving eastward to Louisiana. Homes and roads spent days under feet of water.

The Trumps visited Corpus Christi, Texas, and Austin on Aug. 29. They returned to the region Saturday, visiting Houston and Lake Charles, Louisiana, which also was battered by Harvey. Vice President Mike Pence and his wife, Karen, also visited Texas.

"Our hearts are heavy with sadness for those who lost everything," Trump said Wednesday at an event in North Dakota to pitch his plan for overhauling the tax code.

"They've also filled us with hope," he said, speaking of having witnessed the "unyielding strength and resilience of the American spirit."

White House spokeswoman Lindsay Walters said the Trumps saw some of these groups in action while visiting with hurricane survivors, first responders, volunteers and government officials during their visits to the region. She said Trump and Mrs. Trump continue to pray for all who have been affected.

The American Red Cross said it is "grateful to the Trumps for their generous support of our mission."

The White House first said last week that Trump wanted to make a donation, and sought suggestions from journalists on where he should contribute.

"He would like to join in the efforts that a lot of the people that we've seen across this country do," White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters last week, two days after Trump first visited post-Harvey Texas.

"And he's pledging a million dollars of personal money to the fund," Sanders said "And he's actually asked that I check with the folks in this room, since you are very good at research and have been doing a lot of reporting into the groups and organizations that are best and most effective in helping and providing aid, and he'd love some suggestions from the folks here."

Trump met with three relief groups — the American Red Cross, Southern Baptist Relief and Salvation Army — in the Oval Office last Friday.</s>WASHINGTON (AP) — The House on Wednesday overwhelmingly passed $7.9 billion in Hurricane Harvey disaster relief as warring Republicans and Democrats united behind help for victims of that storm as an ever more powerful new hurricane bore down on Florida.

The 419-3 vote sent the aid package — likely the first of several — to the Senate in hopes of sending the bill to President Donald Trump before dwindling federal disaster reserves run out at the end of this week.

“Help is on the way,” said Texas GOP Rep. John Culberson, whose Houston district was slammed by the storm. “The scale of the tragedy is unimaginable. But in the midst of all this, and all the suffering, it really reflects the American character, how people from all over the country stepped up to help Houstonians recover from this.”

The first installment in Harvey aid is to handle the immediate emergency needs and replenish Federal Emergency Management Agency reserves in advance of Hurricane Irma, which is barreling through the Caribbean toward Florida.

“This is a chance to be your brother’s keeper,” said Houston Democratic Rep. Al Green. “This is chance for the unity that we express when we’re before the cameras to manifest itself in the votes that we cast here in Congress.”

Far more money will be needed once more complete estimates are in this fall, and Harvey could end up exceeding the $110 billion government cost of Hurricane Katrina.

“My friends and neighbors’ homes were completely flattened by Hurricane Harvey’s winds. Businesses were destroyed,” said Rep. Blake Farenthold, R-Texas. “FEMA will be out of money in just two or three days if we don’t pass this.”

Politics quickly intruded as Democratic leaders insisted they would back the measure in the Senate only if it were linked to a short-term increase in the nation’s borrowing limit, not the longer-term hike that Republicans and the Trump administration want.

And some Democrats from the New York delegation reminded Texas Republicans that they opposed a larger aid bill for those harmed by Superstorm Sandy in the Northeast five years ago.

“What you did to us during Superstorm Sandy should not stand, should not be done to any other people, anyplace in the country,” said Rep. Eliot Engel, D-N.Y. “We’re one country, we’re Americans. We need to help those who need help.”

In the Senate, GOP leaders want to link a long-term increase in the debt limit — until 2019 — to the Harvey aid, but that plan faces opposition from conservatives and thus will need Democratic votes.

“I think it’s a terrible idea,” said House Freedom Caucus Chairman Mark Meadows, R-N.C., who conceded that conservatives were getting outmaneuvered.

“I think at this point there are bigger issues that we have to focus on,” Meadows said.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York want to retain Democratic influence and trying to ensure the Republican-controlled Congress addresses health care and immigration as the hectic fall agenda kicks off.

“Given Republican difficulty in finding the votes for their plan, we believe this proposal offers a bipartisan path forward to ensure prompt delivery of Harvey aid as well as avoiding a default, while both sides work together to address government funding, DREAMERS, and health care,” Pelosi and Schumer wrote.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said again Wednesday that increased Harvey costs show the importance of acting swiftly to increase the government’s debt cap to make sure there’s enough borrowed cash to pay out the surge in disaster aid.

Analysts at the Bipartisan Policy Center, a Washington think tank, say Harvey aid wouldn’t cause a cash crunch for weeks.</s>How high can he go?

When JJ Watt of the Houston Texans started raising money for Hurricane Harvey victims, he set the goal at $200,000 and reached it in two hours.

More than a week after the storm ravaged Texas, money is still pouring into Watt’s flood relief fund on the crowdfunding site YouCaring.

Watt has been updating his Twitter profile with news of what the money is buying, including photos of cases of bottled water and diapers. He’s also posted pictures of his teammates distributing it to the victims.

Watt started the fundraiser when he and his teammates were stranded in Dallas during the NFL preseason. When the total passed $10 million, Watt said he would leave it open to see how much could be raised.

“Please keep sharing. Please keep donating. I can’t thank you enough,” Watt said in one video. “Every little thing helps. Just because the storm is receding doesn’t mean we can stop raising money.”

Other Houston athletes and teams have contributed, too. Point guard Chris Paul of the Rockets gave $50,000 to Watt’s campaign. Rockets owner Leslie Alexander is donating $10 million to the mayor’s relief fund. Rockets star James Harden gave $1 million.

Jim Crane, owner of the Astros, is working with the team and plans to give $4 million. And the owner of the Texans, Robert McNair, has pledged $1 million, which will be matched by the NFL’s charitable foundation.

The fund also received a boost from NBC’s “The Tonight Show.” On Tuesday, host Jimmy Fallon announced the show would donate $1 million to Watt’s relief fund.</s>WASHINGTON — The House on Wednesday overwhelmingly passed $7.9 billion in Hurricane Harvey disaster relief as warring Republicans and Democrats united behind help for victims of that storm as an ever more powerful new hurricane bore down on Florida.

The 419-3 vote sent the aid package — likely the first of several — to the Senate in hopes of sending the bill to President Donald Trump before dwindling federal disaster reserves run out at the end of this week.

“Help is on the way,” said Texas GOP Rep. John Culberson, whose Houston district was slammed by the storm. “The scale of the tragedy is unimaginable. But in the midst of all this, and all the suffering, it really reflects the American character, how people from all over the country stepped up to help Houstonians recover from this.”

The first installment in Harvey aid is to handle the immediate emergency needs and replenish Federal Emergency Management Agency reserves in advance of Hurricane Irma, which is barreling through the Caribbean toward Florida.

“This is a chance to be your brother’s keeper,” said Houston Democratic Rep. Al Green. “This is chance for the unity that we express when we’re before the cameras to manifest itself in the votes that we cast here in Congress.”

Far more money will be needed once more complete estimates are in this fall, and Harvey could end up exceeding the $110 billion government cost of Hurricane Katrina.

“My friends and neighbors’ homes were completely flattened by Hurricane Harvey’s winds. Businesses were destroyed,” said Rep. Blake Farenthold, R-Texas. “FEMA will be out of money in just two or three days if we don’t pass this.”

Politics quickly intruded as Democratic leaders insisted they would back the measure in the Senate only if it were linked to a short-term increase in the nation’s borrowing limit, not the longer-term hike that Republicans and the Trump administration want.

And some Democrats from the New York delegation reminded Texas Republicans that they opposed a larger aid bill for those harmed by Superstorm Sandy in the Northeast five years ago.

“What you did to us during Superstorm Sandy should not stand, should not be done to any other people, anyplace in the country,” said Rep. Eliot Engel, D-N.Y. “We’re one country, we’re Americans. We need to help those who need help.”

In the Senate, GOP leaders want to link a long-term increase in the debt limit — until 2019 — to the Harvey aid, but that plan faces opposition from conservatives and thus will need Democratic votes.

“I think it’s a terrible idea,” said House Freedom Caucus Chairman Mark Meadows, R-N.C., who conceded that conservatives were getting outmaneuvered.

“I think at this point there are bigger issues that we have to focus on,” Meadows said.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York want to retain Democratic influence and trying to ensure the Republican-controlled Congress addresses health care and immigration as the hectic fall agenda kicks off.

“Given Republican difficulty in finding the votes for their plan, we believe this proposal offers a bipartisan path forward to ensure prompt delivery of Harvey aid as well as avoiding a default, while both sides work together to address government funding, DREAMERS, and health care,” Pelosi and Schumer wrote.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said again Wednesday that increased Harvey costs show the importance of acting swiftly to increase the government’s debt cap to make sure there’s enough borrowed cash to pay out the surge in disaster aid.

Analysts at the Bipartisan Policy Center, a Washington think tank, say Harvey aid wouldn’t cause a cash crunch for weeks.</s>
Qatar announces it will donate USD$ 30 million to help people in Texas recover from Harvey.