How to Help Texas Hurricane Harvey Victims

Ironically, today I had a post scheduled highlighting some of the awesome people I met in Texas on the Why I Farm Roadtrip, and how small of a world the ag community can be. Late last night, I realized a different post would be more appropriate. Funny enough, this post covers some of the same topics, the people of Texas, and our close knit ag community. But, this post is much more sobering, and urgent.

If you've been watching the news, you've likely heard about the devastation Hurricane Harvey left in Texas. Lives lost, homes destroyed, crops flooded. Sitting in Iowa, it's frustrating to see the heart wrenching images, feeling like I can't do much to help.

Local authorities in the impacted areas are urging non-residents to keep out. Power and clean water must be restored before major clean up or rebuilding efforts can begin. But, there are still plenty of options for those of us at home looking to make a difference.

1. New Day Crisis Fund
For those of you who've had your lives changed by FFA, or are passionate about ag education, here's your chance to pay it forward. This fund, affiliated with the Texas FFA Foundation, will be used to help Texas FFA chapters and agricultural education programs rebuild.

2. Miller Family GoFundMe
Hannah Miller is an ag communicator I've looked up to for a long time. She's active in the community and generous in giving advice to the next generation of ag professionals. While her family survived when the hurricane hit her hometown of Rockport, their home, farm, and possessions did not. Friends have organized this fund to help the Miller family rebuild.

3. Feeding Texas
This network of Texas food banks is working together to make the greatest impact in the disaster area. While donations of food are accepted, financial contributions allow the food bank to purchase food that best fits the needs of the people they are serving. (And doesn't take money or manpower to pack, move, distribute from wherever you live.)

4. Eight Days of Hope
I've volunteered with this organization a couple of times and know of this team's great work personally. Right now they're collecting donations of tools and equipment like generators, box fans, extension cords and batteries at hubs across the country. Check out their Facebook page to see if there is a location near you. Or tax deductible, financial contributions can be made at their website. Note, they are not accepting donations of water or clothing at this time.

5. Your Local Animal Shelter
Check with your local animal shelter to see if there is an opportunity to foster pets displaced by Hurricane Harvey. This article is one example.

Finally, and most importantly, hold the people impacted by the storm up in prayer. The victims, the rescue crews, law enforcement, journalists, volunteers, and utility crews have been through so much, and have a long road ahead.

Thanks for reading.

Wordless Wednesday: San Antonio Trip

If you caught my blog post last week, you know I just got back from a wonderful trip to San Antonio, Texas. I had a great time with classmates exploring the River Walk area and competing in quiz bowl. For this week's Wordless Wednesday, I'm sharing a few more photos from our adventure!

 I hope you all get the chance to visit San Antonio, enjoy the mild weather, and explore the area for yourself! I would love to see your pictures! Thanks for reading!

6 Things that Made San Antonio the Best Trip of 2016... So Far

I just got back from a great trip to San Antonio, Texas. Here are six reasons I'm calling it the best trip of 2016... so far:

Our group looks pretty spiffy in our new red Ag Business polos,
don't you think?

1. Competition
The main purpose of our trip was to compete in an Agricultural Economics quiz bowl. There's just something about a little bit of competition that makes any trip a little more exciting. Although I traveled down with a group of fellow Iowa State Ag Business students, we were split up on separate teams for the contest. This structure forced us to meet new people and encouraged a little friendly competition among students from the same school. (After a close third round, my team was eliminated by another Iowa State team.)

2. My travel partners
The group of Iowa State students that traveled with me made the trip a blast! We had such a fun time sight seeing around the San Antonio River Walk, exploring the local restaurants and cheering one another on. Before the trip we didn't know each other that well, but now we've shared tons of laughs, photos, and bowls of ice cream.

3. The weather
When we left, blizzard warnings were in the forecast for Iowa. As our first plane landed in Dallas, we could feel the warm sunshine streaming though the airplane windows. Once we arrived in San Antonio, we were all eager to ditch our coats in the hotel and explore our sunny surroundings. It was so nice to have a break from bundling up, even if it was just for a weekend.

4. The sights

The River Walk was gorgeous and full of places to eat and drink!

This trip marked my 25th state and my first time in Texas. Our hotel was right on the River Walk and walking distance for a tour of The Alamo. Right before catching our flight home, we made a mad dash to the Tower of the Americas. After a minute and a half elevator ride to the top, we could see for miles over the top of San Antonio. Unfortunately after a few selfies and a lap around the observation deck, it was time to go, but we had lots of fun!

5. Successful examples and mentors
Quiz bowl isn't the only thing going on at these meetings. Grad students and professors from around the region come to this conference to present their research and network. There are so many people with similar professional interests in one place. Their work and curiosity is really inspiring.

6. Meeting peers
While meeting so many people to look up to is awesome, it's also great to make friends from other schools. It's fun to sit around and compare college life around the country. Even though some of us say pop instead of soda or you guys instead of y'all, it's good to know I'm not the only one a little anxious about graduation or passionate about the story of agriculture.

Huge thank you to Georgeanne and Keri for spending their Superbowl weekend with eight "Quiz Bow Quties." We all had a great time in Texas. We appreciate your guidance and patience.

Also, thank you to the generous sponsors of the Iowa State Agricultural Business Club and our trip. Your support is what makes our program one of the strongest in the nation. These experiences are what shape us students into well rounded, employable graduates. Thanks for reading!