This spring, as heavy rains fell throughout Texas, severe flooding caused devastating damage to homes and roadways across the state, sending thousands of families into temporary shelters. Back in April, Target donated $125,000 in funds and GiftCards to aid relief efforts from the floods, and many local team members locked arms with organizations on the ground, volunteering for cleanup and relief. It looked as through the worst was over, and the communities began to rebuild and recover.

But over Memorial Day Weekend, as new rains fell and water levels began rising again, Target teams prepared to jump back into action to assist the impacted communities. Today, Target made an additional $200,000 donation to help with recovery efforts in Houston and the surrounding area. Included is $100,000 in Target GiftCards to be distributed by Salvation Army through the Multi-Agency Resource Centers across the state, an $85,000 grant to the American Red Cross to help provide food and shelter for impacted families and aid clean-up response, and $15,000 in GiftCards to local organizations to provide needed supplies. This brings our total donation amount for Texas flood support so far this year to $325,000.

Our volunteers are eager to continue their efforts. “As soon as they could, my store team threw on their red Target Volunteer shirts and went to work,” says Bryant Robertson, store team leader at our Spring, Texas store, where team members recently joined colleagues from two neighboring Target stores to prepare meals and pack comfort kits of supplies for impacted neighborhoods. “I’m always so proud of their willingness to jump in, get their hands dirty and make a real impact for those in need.” The teams are already planning more group volunteer projects to continue helping out wherever they can.

“When disaster strikes one of our communities, the Target team’s commitment to help response and recovery efforts is a very personal one, because the impacted neighborhoods are home to our guests and team members,” says Laysha Ward, chief corporate social responsibility officer, Target. “We’re so proud of our team members’ efforts, not only as volunteers, but also in making sure our stores closest to the disaster areas are ready with needed supplies. We're honored to work with such great partners like the American Red Cross and the Salvation Army to provide relief and comfort during the response and recovery.”

This latest donation is just one example of our ongoing support. At Target, we’re committed to serving our communities all year long—a win-win situation, because when we help build strong communities, the guests and team members who live there help us build a strong business. We’re proud of our long tradition of giving 5% of our profit to communities—today, that adds up to more than $4 million every week toward things like hunger relief, safety partnerships with law enforcement, and other community programming—and our team members donate hundreds of thousands of hours volunteering in their communities every year.

For more information about flood relief efforts in Texas, visit the Red Cross support page  and Salvation Army support page. Check out our Corporate Social Responsibility pages for more about Target’s commitment to supporting our local communities.

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