Thank you to Sylvia Gonzalez of Houston, Vice President of the Southwest chapter of LULAC, who organized the effort to get money directly to the family of the 11-year-old girl in Cleveland, Texas who was gang raped a few months ago and then basically got slut-shamed by her entire town and the New York Times. This post has information and links about the situation: How to help the 11 year old girl in Texas.
In the comments on my original post you can see several organizations local to this girl and her family, and you might like to donate to them to support the local infrastructure. I donated to several of them, including Bridgehaven, the Montgomery Women’s Center, and New Horizons Family Center. While I respect those organizations and think they’re important, I also think it’s important to get money directly to people in crisis. The girl’s family had to move, her mom has serious health problems, her dad was out of work for months, and I’m sure they can use all the avenues of help that are possible.
You can mail a check made out to the Cleveland Crime Victim Family directly to Sylvia (10102 Elm Knoll Trail, Houston, Texas, 77064), deposit it into any Amegy Bank. If you donate using the Chipin fund I set up here, I’ll collect that money and mail Sylvia a check next week. Any Paypal fees that get charged I will make up as my extra donation. If you want to leave a note for the family here, or email it to me privately (lizhenry@gmail.com) I’ll include those notes when I send Sylvia the check.
The story and the stories and comments that came out of it were so horrific, I needed to do something directly, so as not to feel so despairing. It was tremendously heartening to read all the comments on my first post, and I swore to follow up, so that people would have a way to contribute and respond further. When I raised money for Katrina disaster relief and flew out to the Astrodome, I ended up using that money — a couple of thousand dollars in cash — to people at moments when it made a big difference in their lives. I saw it work and have also appreciated getting no strings attached money to help me through crises in my own life. I think there is also something powerful about knowing that an individual person, even a stranger, has the faith in you to help out on that level. Thanks for reading, donating, or commenting, everyone!
Please repost the link to the ChipIn or feel free to repost all or part of this. I don’t have a lot of readers, so signal boost is definitely needed!
is the widget accurate, in terms of donors/money raised? just curious!
Hi Ocean C., it is accurate for this specific fundraiser which is mostly for the readers of this blog. (Or whoever comes across the page.) I had thought I might get more. Pretty Little Black Girl raised about $500 I think, and sent it to Sylvia. I had three people email to tell me they were sending checks directly to Sylvia rather than using the online widget.
I remember this story. I also remember when you went to the Astrodome. I’m thinking every bit helps, both in real purchasing power and in good thoughts from the community. Thanks for making it easy to Chip In.
Thanks Deb!
In a week we hit $435 donated from 12 people. Not as much as I had hoped for, but I’m extremely grateful for all your donations. I rounded it up to $500, and mailed the check to Sylvia this morning, made out to Cleveland Crime Victim Family, with notes from a few folks. I know Decoi from Pretty Little Black Girl also raised about that amount (maybe more?) and is sending it on as well.