First things first, for those with immediate needs with regard to clothes, food, or shelter, you can find help through this link to the Howard County Disaster Assistance page. You can also be connected to all County agencies by calling 410-313-2900 and stating your need.
Second, what is the Ellicott City Partnership doing? Over the last 48 hours, the ECP has compiled a database of over 2,000 volunteers and we are in the process of putting that information into Constant Contact. With the tremendous assistance of Courtney Watson, we have arranged for storage of clean-up equipment at EZ Storage in Ellicott City, pending the go ahead from the County to access properties. Thank you EZ Storage for your generous donation of the storage space. We have also purchased gift cards for clean-up materials and other necessities that will be distributed with the donated materials. I understand that the West End is already in the midst of clean-up and to the extent any materials are needed, please feel free to email me directly. Over the next 3-4 hours, we will have a webpage that will allow business owners and residents to report their needs and we will arrange for those needs to be met. (Update: You can find that form here.) Past that, we also anticipate being able to provide funds directly to those affected by the flood.
The bottom line is that I want people to be assured that this organization is working overtime to meet the pressing needs of the community. I am honored to work with such dedicated people.
Third, yesterday I asked for referrals of benefit events, which may have underestimated the interest. Here are the events dedicated to raising funds for the Ellicott City recovery efforts:
August 1 -13 - David Bears 39 Minute Workout - $20 drop-in classes with all proceeds going to the Ellicott City disaster fund
August 1 - 5 - Nacho Mama's (Canton, MD) is donating 20% of all food and beverage purchases
Wednesday, 3 pm - 10 pm Alehouse Columbia (Flying Dog)
Wednesday, 5 pm - Yogi Castle Ellicott City
Thursday, 3 pm - Jailbreak Brewing
Friday, ?? pm - Chef Paolino (details unclear)
Friday, 9 pm - Boozehounds Rock Ellicott City for Ellicott City (Bare Bones)
Friday - 6:30 pm -Feet on the Street (Towson, MD)
Saturday, 5 pm - Heavy Seas Brewery
Sunday, 4 pm - White Oak Tavern (Flying Dog)
September 24 - AVOCA Decorator Showhouse
I am 100% certain I left something out, but please add any other events in the comments. Please also check out the list compiled by the Baltimore Sun. As much as I would like to update this list, there just isn't capacity to do so.
Fourth, there are also additional GoFundMe pages to share:
Again, please add any others in the comments. I assure you that readers here check the comments, particularly for something like this.
Fifth, I spoke with representatives of Howard Bank yesterday, who are offering to do whatever they can to help. They are going to tremendous efforts to ease the financial burden on their Main Street clients and I hope other banks will follow their example. This is community banking at its best.
That's it for now. I will try to keep updates coming as I have them on the HoCo Rising Facebook page.
