'Clear The Shelters' Promotes Pet Adoption

KPRC2’s commitment to the community extends to our four-legged friends.

In July, KPRC2 partnered with Telemundo Houston to help Clear the Shelters as part of a nationwide initiative spearheaded by NBC. The program encouraged overcrowded shelters to waive or deeply discount their adoption fees in order to curb euthanasia rates. Through extensive promotion of pet adoption facilities and programs, along with tips on responsible pet ownership via promotional spots and on-air interviews, Clear the Shelters helped alleviate over-crowding problems in Houston area shelters at a time of year when adoptions traditionally occur less frequently.

Through the campaign, more than 2,500 pets were adopted in the Houston area, with totals surpassing 47,000 pet adoptions nationwide.

KPRC2 Summer Blood Drive Supports Community

The Houston area sees a drop in blood donations each summer, so KPRC2 worked to raise awareness and help increase life-saving blood supplies in partnership with the Gulf Coast Regional Blood Center. The KPRC2 Summer Blood Drive, hosted in front of the station on June 16th, resulted in 1,412 blood donations.

The quantity represents a nine percent increase in donations over prior year totals and gave KPRC2 the designation of having the largest media-sponsored blood drive event in Houston. Each blood donation has the potential to save up to three lives, so the KPRC2 Summer Blood Drive alone could impact more than 4,000 people in the Houston area and beyond. In fact, once local blood supply needs were met, some donations collected at the KPRC2 Summer Blood Drive were sent to help victims of the mass nightclub shooting in Orlando.

KPRC helps raise over $670,000 for vicitims of historic Houston flood

On Monday, April 18, 2016 historic flooding hit Houston and KPRC2’s news team stepped up to help keep viewers safe and informed. In spite of significant logistical challenges, including a power outage and generator failure, KPRC2 anchors and reporters utilized various platforms to get critical information to viewers as the flood disaster unfolded. Reporters and photojournalists teamed up to produce numerous Facebook Live videos as well as sending out photos, videos and lifesaving information via Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat as well as through frequent posts on Click2Houston.com.

Team coverage of the event continued for several days, as Chief Meteorologist Frank Billingsley and the KPRC2 Severe Weather Team monitored the threat of additional rain and rising flood waters. Reporters brought awareness to areas of concern, mandatory evacuations, traffic delays, property damage and the emotional impact resulting from loss of life and relief efforts to help those who had lost so much.

KPRC2 then went beyond news coverage to help the people in our community recover from the disaster, raising much-needed funds for the American Red Cross. Through a two-day phone bank heavily covered by the station and hosted inside KPRC2 studios, more than $670,000 and counting was raised via pledges from individuals and businesses to directly help Houston flood victims. KPRC2 has teamed up with Kroger stores to continue accepting donations for Red Cross flood relief. Viewers may donate their spare change at the checkout counter at any Houston area Kroger location.

KPRC2’s Habitat Home Build is Underway

On January 5th, 2016 KPRC2 began building their 3rd annual Habitat for Humanity home for a local family.  The station sponsors the home financially with help from participating local businesses and employees volunteer their time throughout the build.

Partner families approved as future Habitat for Humanity homeowners also put in “sweat equity,” volunteering their time in the home construction process.

In 2014, the KPRC2 team helped a family get out of their crowded apartment and into their first home with a yard where her children could play and feel safe. In 2015, a mother and her two children, father and grandmother left their crumbling mobile home and moved into KPRC2’s Habitat Home, one built with the grandmother’s limited mobility in mind.

KPRC2 will welcome a new family into the Habitat Home currently under construction in April of this year.

KPRC2 and Houston Fire Department Team Up for Operation: Stocking Stuffer

KPRC2 partners with the Houston Fire Department (HFD) each year for the Operation: Stocking Stuffer toy drive. The station helps solicit individual donations for a month leading up to Christmas and encourages local corporations to provide toys and bicycles for boys and girls in need.  Since partnership with HFD began on this project nearly a decade ago it has grown exponentially, making the holidays a little brighter for local families who may not otherwise have been able to provide Christmas gifts for their children. KPRC2 helped generate excitement for this year’s toy drive with help from NBC’s Sunday Night Football bus, which visited Houston on December 12th to host a toy drop-off event and make a donation worth more than $5,000 in toys. In 2014, full bags of toys were provided for 3,200 families and in 2015, more than 4,400 families received bags of toys and gifts through KPRC2 and HFD’s Operation: Stocking Stuffer toy drive.