WI Red Cross, Milwaukee businesses answer call to help Texas residents after winter storm

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- With the dire situation in Texas, the call for help has come to Wisconsin.

Red Cross volunteers are already on the ground in the state.

Locally, a Wausau resident was deployed to help with supplies and overall relief.

“They’re going to be checking out, kind of, in the days ahead, homes that may have been extensively damaged," Red Cross of Wisconsin Communications Director Justin Kern said.

Kern stressed that people’s basic needs are still in jeopardy.

“And making sure they have things like food and water just in their house," he said.

The owners of Milwaukee-based Lumpia City are pitching in, too.

They’ve kicked off a fundraiser called Tees for Texas.

“Seeing what these people are going through right now, it made me look around at my house. Seeing everything I have and just being like, wow, this could have happened to me," Lumpia City co-owner Alexa Reyes said.

Reyes said they plan to donate to Frida Friday ATX.

It’s a marketplace based in Austin, Texas that’s been providing winter storm relief.

“We distributed close to 3,000 meals over the weekend because people couldn’t cook," Frida Friday ATX Founder TK Tunchez said.

She added that they’re focused on emergency needs and cash assistance.

“People’s pipes freezing or people losing all of their food, those are big expenses when you’re a working class person," she explained.

To volunteer for the Red Cross of Wisconsin, click here.

To donate to Lumpia City's Tees for Texas fundraiser, click here.

To learn more about Frida Friday ATX, click here.