Ladera Ranch Residents Collecting All Items for Hurricane Harvey Relief Today Until 5 PM at Oso Grande Elementary in Ladera

(LADERA RANCH) – Hundreds of Ladera Ranch residents turned out today – and continue to turn out, at Oso Grande Elementary School in Ladera Ranch to donate thousands of items in desperate need by victims of Hurricane Harvey in Texas this week – the first major hurricane to make landfall in the U.S. since Hurricane Wilma 12-years ago, according to online sources. According to Wikipedia, Harvey is “the wettest tropical cyclone on record in the contiguous U.S., and the resulting floods inundated hundreds of thousands of homes, displaced more than 30,000 people and prompted more than 17,000 rescues.”

Donations of all kinds are being accepted now through 5 p.m. at the parking lot drop off center at Oso Grande Elementary School, 30251 Sienna Parkway, Ladera Ranch. No donation will go unaccepted.

Ladera Ranch volunteers stand-by to take items directly from vehicles so drivers simply enter the parking lot from Sienna and exit out the opposite side of the parking lot back onto Sienna.

The process of donating goes quickly and easily. All items are needed: clothes, feminine products, trash bags, baby formula, toiletries, dog/cat food, baby diapers and wipes, cleaning supplies and gloves….the residents of Houston Texas need everything.

“Where there is a will, there is a way,” said event organizers and Ladera husband and wife team Daniella and Paul Hernandez, formerly of the Houston area. “It takes a Ranch!”

Shipping trucks have been donated by Vizio Electronics and will be taking items to the Houston area.

“This has been a very well oiled machine out here today,” said Ladera Ranch Mom and Hurricane Harvey relief volunteer Erin Henderson. “You just pack up the items and put them into your car, pull up to Oso and you don’t even have to get out. Ladera volunteer kids come right up to your car, take things out and put them under the appropriate donation canopy.”

“The receiving contact in the Houston area is blown away by how much this small community in Southern California has given,” Henderson said.

“We have a ton of volunteers which are made up of mostly of Ladera kids of all ages that are doing their part to help! Football teams, Soccer Teams, Girl Scout troops, Coyotes Baseball Team,” Henderson said. “The kids were really paying attention this morning as volunteer coordinators addressed the crowd to explain how the day would work. You could see the wheels spinning in the minds of these kids. They were really understanding the desperation and gravity of the situation in Houston.”

“We need everything Ladera can give,” Henderson said. “All items are needed. Including items for babies, small children and animals. Things we take for granted – like diapers and baby wipes. Our children are immediately changed into a new diaper and quickly made comfortable. The babies in Houston don’t have that luxury if they don’t even have clean diapers to use.”

“Everyone out here is doing their part but there is still time left today to help,” said Henderson.

Vizio executives and their families have been at Oso Grande today collecting donations, sorting through clothes and loading boxes in cooperation with Ladera Ranch residents, including Vizio Co-Founder Laynie Newsome and her family; Paul Hernandez, Sr. VP of Vizio Sales and his family; John Schindler, Sr. VP of Vizio Products was unable to make it but his children Grant and Lilyan Schindler were on hand to represent the Schindler family from the very beginning.

Ladera Ranch Neighborhood Watch organizer Jennifer Powers and Ladera Rancho Chamber of Commerce’s Lori Schindler are among the many Ladera Ranch community volunteers helping to make the drive so successful. Ladera Ranch’s Judy Manley was also on hand to help organize the Ladera Ranch Hurricane Harvey donation effort.

Z Pizza of Ladera Ranch's Mercantile West provided lunch for all of the volunteers. Home Depot donated all boxes and packing tape. Ladera's Coyote Baseball organization volunteered throughout the entire event. Albertsons of Ladera Ranch provided water -- and this was a gift considering the 90-degree plus weather the Southland is enduring. Local Ladera Ranch Realtor Janelle Harmon donated to the volunteer efforts. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saint Missionaries were on hand during the event to help in any manner called upon. The hardworking members of Oso Grande Elementary School's PTA were also a part of the success of the event.

It does take a Ranch.

For more information on the situation in Houston and ways to help, go to https://www.houstonemergency.o... or http://www.houstontx.gov/:

Ways to help Houston recover from Harvey

1. Individuals. Call 211 (713-685-2300 if out of area). They are coordinating volunteers.

2. Groups or Individuals. Register at www.volunteerhouston.org (likely the most comprehensive and easiest to use).

3. Corporations wanting to donate supplies or money (for example, XYZ Corp has truckloads of supplies they want to contribute):
Please send an email to Norma.Meadows@houstontx.gov and Carlecia.Wright@houstontx.gov with the following information:
- Name of organization
- Name of person to call regarding the donation
- Email of Point of Contact
- Service provided

4. Individuals wanting to donate. Harris County & COH JOINT Donations Hotline. 1-800-SAL-ARMY (1-800-725-2769)

5. Medical volunteers. SETRAC website for medical volunteers to register for disaster volunteer ops: https://texasdisastervolunteer...

Ladera residents can also donate gift cards to Walmart, Target, Ralph’s and Costco, and/or packing supplies such as boxes, plastic bins, packing tape, labels and/or black markers before the Vizio truck drives to Texas;

For more information, contact Ladera Ranch Hurricane Harvey drive organizer Daniella at (479) 685-4787 or claradaniella@gmail.com

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