VFW to donate $40,000 for Hurricane Harvey relief

Veterans of Foreign Wars is donating $40,000 toward relief from Hurricane Harvey, and the group says its controversial video raffle games made the donation possible.

“VFW of Ohio Charities will donate $20,000 and the national VFW will match that donation with another $20,000,” the Ohio group said in a statement Friday. VFW groups across the state will continue raising funds through September, the group said.

The money will go to help defray costs from a storm that continued to batter coastal areas along the Gulf of Mexico on Friday, nearly a full week after the storm made its first landfall.

Almost 200,000 homes were reported damaged with many areas still inaccessible. Fires and leaks plagued petrochemical plants. Beaumont lacked potable water, while Port Arthur officials said they were running out of food.

Gas shortages were reported as far away as Austin.

VFW officials said their donation was part of $30 million in charitable donations the group has made since it began offering video raffle games in 2011.

“In tragic times such as these, it’s important for us to help our fellow Americans who are in desperate need,” said Bill Seagraves, director of the VFW of Ohio Charities, in a statement. “Our hope is that this donation will provide support for those who have been forced to evacuate their homes and are without essential items like food, clothing and shelter.”

Attorney General Mike DeWine, a Republican who is now running for governor, tried to shut down the video raffle games, saying that they amounted to illegal gambling.

The VFW in 2013 obtained a temporary order restraining DeWine while the issue was hashed out in court. A decision is expected soon, the VFW said.