As Hurricane Harvey deluged the city of Houston last August, Peter Hirsch wasn’t worried about the potential damage to his business. Instead, the president of Hirsch Gift (asi/61005) was concerned about his employees’ safety and how he could help his suffering community.

“Harvey was right in our backyard,” says Hirsch, a South African native who’s fallen in love with the Texas city he’s called home for 20 years. “We had very definite needs in all the neighborhoods in and around Houston.”

Hirsch, his business partner and son Paul, and their entire team sprang into action, informing customers that orders wouldn’t be shipping on time due to delays with FedEx and UPS. Because their warehouse was packed to capacity, Hirsch rummaged through his Rolodex to secure a small warehouse space where they could collect supplies for flood victims. Those supplies were donated by promotional products companies throughout the country, all eager to help with contributions as well as volunteer efforts.

“When you put the call out, it’s amazing how people come together,” Hirsch says. “I may be one of the people that coordinate, but this is certainly not a sole effort.”

The Hirsch executives and their legion of volunteers, including company employees and fellow promo professionals, organized and transported more than 200 pallets of necessities to community distribution points like schools and churches. They also drove the items out to those struggling in nearby residential areas like Meyerland and Bellaire.

Peter Hirsch (center) and industry volunteers packed over 200 pallets of necessities.

“It’s astonishing how the whole team got together and put extra hours in to get the product out there to people who need it,” Paul Hirsch says. “When you see with your own eyes how fortunate you are, and see people who are really down in the dumps, you want to help out anyway you can.”

Unfortunately, Harvey wasn’t Hirsch’s first experience organizing hurricane relief efforts. In 2005, thousands upon thousands of New Orleans residents fled to Houston to escape the wrath of Hurricane Katrina. Many of them had nothing but the clothes on their backs and the fading hope that their previous lives weren’t lost forever.

“Sometimes in life, you’re just in the right place at the right time,” Hirsch says. “I felt there was a need, and it’s much easier to effectively help people if you’re close to where the need is.”

Without the know-how he’d later gain, Hirsch’s first relief effort was very nerve-wracking, but he and his team pooled together their resources, calling upon the industry for donations and collecting and distributing needed supplies to displaced victims.

“When it comes to something like a disaster, you have to draw on friendships and relationships,” Hirsch says. “There’s a deep level of trust because when somebody sends you a 40-foot container of towels from across the country, they want to make sure it goes to a worthy cause. Industry people have developed that trust with us. They know when they make a donation, we’re going to make the effort and care to put it in someone’s hands that truly needs it.”

Hirsch’s generosity and compassion isn’t reserved for extraordinary circumstances – his company regularly donates to charitable organizations and encourages volunteering. Hirsch also recently launched a line of Patriot Coolers, from which 20% of net proceeds go to Homes For Our Troops, a nonprofit organization that builds and donates specially adapted custom homes for severely injured American military veterans who’ve served since the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

“My dad has definitely been my mentor,” Paul Hirsch says. “I’ve learned to love from him.”

Hirsch Gift employees and promo industry volunteers worked together to help victims of Hurricane Harvey.

Team members and Peter Hirsch (left) finish loading a truck bound for residential areas devastated by the hurricane.