We love to hear stories of local young professionals giving back to others! Two of our FLEX members, Sara Brecht and Elizabeth Yale, decided to do their part to help out after the tragic hurricane in Houston.

Sara, who recently moved to our area, started a project when she lived in Warren, PA, last September called Operation Be a Better Human. The group does “Flash Fundraisers” for nonprofits and sent a 26-foot Uhaul full of new clothes, dog food, cleaning supplies, water, and other items, to residents in Houston.

Other fundraisers the group has done include collecting food for a backpack program, raising money to redo the computer lab in the Warren Area student union, selling baked goods for local veterans needing kidney transplants, and helping a family after having their house burn down.

Although Sara no longer lives in Warren, she continues to give back to that community and communities throughout the United States. “Our goal is to help, put out the positive, and focus on ACTION rather than the negative,” she said. “This has been a group effort and wouldn’t have happened without the dedication of many volunteers from my home town. I could never do this without them.” Sara is open to helping a similar group start in our area if any young professionals are interested! Check them out on Facebook by searching “Operation Be a Better Human.”

Elizabeth is the Priest in Charge at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Franklin and previously lived in Houston. She also led a collection of items for residents and the church filled up an 8×8 trailer three and a half times with clothes, from baby to 3XL, along with food goods, personal care items, cleaning supplies, and cots. In addition, they raised about $2,000 for the trip to take items down to Houston and donated the extra money. More items will be donated with another group who is sending trucks to both Houston and Florida.

“Having recently lived in Houston, my heart was breaking seeing the destruction of places I loved and seen every day while there,” Elizabeth said. “I wanted to be able to do something to help my friends, and coordinating through them, we found a place we could make a much needed donation.”

The two women who delivered supplies from St. John’s took them to NRG Stadium (home of the Houston Texans and the Houston Rodeo) on September 12 and saw the good work people are doing in helping others. As of last week, 2,000 people were still living in the temporary housing provided by the stadium.

Please join us in thanking Sara and Elizabeth for their commitment to not only our community, but communities throughout the United States! If you have a story you’d like to share, please email us at flex@venangochamber.org.

Learn more about FLEX at venangoflex.org.