Author: Houston ToolBank

It's finally 2020 and man do we have some exciting things in store for the new year! We are ecstatic to have an impeccable team of talented individuals who come together to make the Houston Community ToolBank an impactful organization. As we accelerate into a new decade, we are eager to lend out a helping hand to those in need, and are extremely grateful to have such an engaged board of directors. We appreciate their generous support, time, and dedication.. Climb aboard as we introduce this year's board members. John Byrd (Byrd GEO), Jennifer Casey (Houston Responds), John Crabb (90mph), John Goodrich (SPX Flow), Lauren Hollins (Rice MBA Board Fellow), Danielle Lincoln (Chevron), Tony Nicosia (Cox Automotive), Joe Quinto (Team Rubicon), Vanessa Richards (KPRC Channel 2), Roger Spee ( Stanley…

Hey everyone! I am Carleshia Davis from Houston, TX. I’m a new Communications and Events VISTA and I will be serving at The Houston Community ToolBank. While here, I will work to promote the positive impact the organization has in our community.  I am exhilarated to serve and take part in being the solution to problems across my city! Prior to starting service as an AmeriCorps VISTA, I recently graduated college. As a fresh college graduate, I was a bit lost in trying to figure out an occupation that was for me. After using my resources and reaching out to a previous educator, I gained some direction in what it was I wanted to do. As an active member in my community, I wanted to be more involved and become…

John CrabbThe award accepted by Chairman of the ToolBank Board On November 14, 2019 Keep Houston Beautiful hosted the 35th Mayor’s Proud Partners Awards. That award ceremony spotlighted 19 exceptional projects and programs, supported by businesses, individuals, youth and community groups that have made a positive, lasting impact while giving back to the City of Houston’s environment.The award ceremony was held at the Hilton Americas hotel and included a delicious brunch breakfast. Second Servings, a fellow member agency of the ToolBank, took the excess prepared food from the ceremony and delivered it promptly and safely to charitable meal providers. This Is one example on how the ceremony hosted and coordinated by Keep Houston Beautiful's Executive Director, Amy Reed, worked tirelessly to ensure that it exemplified it's theme with a perfect…

The Houston Community ToolBank has had many proud accomplishments over its 5 years of serving Houston and its surrounding communities. We want to thank our member agencies for working hard with their community building projects, especially during disaster recovery. This year we would also like to highlight our special private zombie protection initiative we have been spearheading since our doors first opened.  Thank you for helping us keep Houston zombie free and our community strong.

Houston’s first annual Volunteer Appreciation Fair was held on October 5, 2019. This fair was not only a way to say thanks to the volunteers that have dedicated their time to the community, but also to reward them for their commitment to uplifting those in need during hard times.The fair celebrated people who have given their time; doing everything from mucking and gutting houses with Houston or Katy responds, to signing up for Volunteer Houston to be a part of projects that are aligned with their interests and talents.This fair was the spark of an initiative to give volunteers recognition for their efforts. They are needed and are valuable pillars of strength and stability, especially in the non profit community.Each nonprofit or volunteer agency was asked to choose a volunteer…

 The Houston ToolBank and Kaboom! have been partners since the ToolBank opened in 2014. This long time collaboration has been a mutual relationship between the non-profits for the benefit of children in the community. KaBOOM! is the national non-profit dedicated to bringing balanced and active play into the daily lives of all kids, particularly those growing up in poverty in America. KaBOOM! often provides grants and equipment to schools for new play equipment, as well as helping to organize projects across the country. Rebuild Texas *(another ToolBank partner) sponsored the Bay Colony Elementary, KAboom! Build. It was a two-week effort to tear down the old playground, and afterward it took 3 days to prepare the area for the volunteers.  The build day consisted of over 80 volunteers, all of whom had different…

Although this member agency is a recent addition to our ToolBank family, it has been a staple in the Houston community since 2014. Second Servings of Houston strives to alleviate hunger and reduce waste by rescuing excess prepared and perishable food from hotels, caterers, sports venues, distributors, retailers, and other regulated food businesses, and delivering it promptly and safely to approved charitable meal sites. A ToolBank representative was not able to visit the Texas Restaurant Association Marketplace trade show that occurred on July 14th and 15th. Barbabra Bronstein, the president and founder of second servings, was kind enough to have an email correspondence with us. "Thanks to the ToolBank equipment rental, we were able to efficiently rescue a huge amount of incredible food for people in need, including adults in…

The Houston ToolBank was selected to receive a small grant from the Positive Payload program, which has donated over $20,000 to nonprofits across the USA since 2017. The program gives to organizations that use trucks to support their day-to-day operations, and we are fortunate to have access to a truck donated by Ford to ToolBank Disaster Services following Hurricane Harvey. This truck has allowed us to make some very important deliveries of tools and donations to nonprofits doing great work across the state, and will always be an asset to TDS. Thanks to Positive Payload and Ford for the ongoing support! To Learn more about Positive Payload, click here.

College Memorial Park Cemetery is one of three remaining African-American cemeteries established in Houston in the era of racial segregation.  It is located at 3605 West Dallas at Dunlavy in the historic Fourth Ward, on Lot 3, Block 48 of the O. Smith Survey in Harris County, Texas. Four thousand, four hundred graves, many of them unmarked or unidentifiable, occupy 5.2 acres.  They regularly have volunteer opportunities to preserve the cemetery and maintain its sanctity with careful attention to its history.The second Saturday of every month from 8am to noon, community volunteers are working to clean up our historic cemetery. All skill levels of work are available from chain saws to mowers to simply picking up trash. They are working from 8 am to noon, any amount of time you…

https://vimeo.com/332741995 "A Woman decided to brave the storm and stay in her house during the flooding. She ended up getting sick because of all the mold that was affecting her home. She is still keeping her faith in that her home will be restored to its original condition."   I still believe there is  a lot of people that need help; they need people to help them. One family at a time.    "With the decline in media coverage of Hurricane Harvey’s aftermath, it’s easy to drive around Houston and surrounding cities and think things are "back to normal." For tens of thousands of families, this couldn’t be further from the truth. These families are still displaced or living in unrepaired homes. The number of volunteers engaging in the recovery…