A Huntington woman who grew up in Houston is sending help to her former hometown for Hurricane Harvey victims.

"It's very heartbreaking to see places that I knew so well just completely submerged in water," says Renee Pardo, who moved to Houston when she was 7 and remained for 20 years. "It's a place that welcomed me, and that I loved and was my home all through grade school, high school. And eventually, I went to college in Austin and then back to Houston for law school."

Pardo says she still has many childhood friends in Houston, whom she keeps in touch with on Facebook.

"Some of them are still in their childhood homes," she says. "And they're having to deal with watching their houses be destroyed, their memories go."

To help them, she's collecting donations like cleaning supplies and personal hygiene items to ship to Texas.

"I have people at work offering to make donations," she says. "I also am reaching out to members of my synagogue...I need to do something for these people who mean a lot to me."

Pardo says people can also help by sending cash donations to the Greater Houston Community Foundation, a relief fund the city's mayor established.

"I think it's something we owe each other as Americans," Pardo says.

How to Help Hurricane Harvey Victims
American Red Cross Website
Call: 1-800-RED CROSS
Or Text Harvey to the number 90999
Save the Children
The Salvation Army
North American Mission Board
Heart to Heart International