February 20, 2021

AOC Flies to Texas to Help at a Food Bank

Your move, Ted Cruz.

Elizabeth Conley/AP

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In the aftermath of the historic winter storm that knocked out Texas’ power grid and hobbled its water supply, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) flew to Texas to join her house colleagues Reps. Sheila Jackson Lee and Sylvia Garcia (D-Tex.) in volunteering at a food bank in Houston.

Not only were millions of Texans left in the dark and without running water, the disaster has also spurred a crisis with lines at food banks wrapping around city blocks across the state.

With the absence of state and local politicians, mutual aid networks and organizations stepped up to bring badly-needed supplies to those affected. And now Democrats in Congress are joining in—even those who are struggling as well. “Like many of you, I still don’t have running water and am using rain water to flush my toilet,” Rep. Garcia said on Twitter.

The Democratic representatives lending a hand at the food bank stands in stark contrast to Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) The senator, who lives in Houston with his wife and daughters, has faced a storm of criticism this week after getting caught flying with his family to Cancun, Mexico for a little rest and relaxation while everyday Texans froze in their homes.

No one expects any single politician, whether they represent Texas or not, to single-handedly fix all of state’s problems on their own, especially members of Congress who are not involved in state-level politics. But it creates an interesting split screen. Democratic representatives are raising money and handing out food to desperate people. When Cruz was forced to cut his vacation short, he flew home and did what any seasoned politician does in time of crisis—he went on Fox News.

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WE CAME UP SHORT.

We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

So we urgently need this specific ask, what you're reading right now, to start bringing in more donations than it ever has. The reality, for these next few months and next few years, is that we have to start finding ways to grow our online supporter base in a big way—and we're optimistic we can keep making real headway by being real with you about this.

Because the bottom line: Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the type of journalism Mother Jones exists to do. The only investors who won’t let independent, investigative journalism down are the people who actually care about its future—you.

And we hope you might consider pitching in before moving on to whatever it is you're about to do next. We really need to see if we'll be able to raise more with this real estate on a daily basis than we have been, so we're hoping to see a promising start.

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