Summer in the City

Family Eldercare Summer Fan Drive needs your help beating the Austin heat

2011 Summer Fan Drive
Last years Summer Fan Drive

Y'all, it's 105 degrees outside today. At least that's what my car with the spotty A/C was telling me at 1 p.m. when I was driving around downtown. And people were outside. Walking. In the heat.

As frustrating and expensive as it might be to keep cool in the Austin summer, Family Eldercare reminds us that there are also members of our community that are suffering without any air conditioning whatsoever in their homes.

Sadly, the majority of these individuals are low-income seniors, adults with disabilities and families with children who know the heat not as an inconvenience but as a potential threat to their lives.

For over 20 years, Family Eldercare, a non-profit with ties to United Way and St. David's Foundation, has encouraged Central Texans to take part in their annual Summer Fan Drive to beat the record-breaking heat by donating new box fans and donating to buy new window units to give to individuals in need.

Last year, they were able to distribute almost 7,000 fans and 160 window units to Austin area homes — all of which were donated.

Since fan delivery literally opens the doors to homes of individuals in need, Family Eldercare also takes advantage of the opportunity to meet recipients to offer further relief from other challenges such as chronic disease, malnutrition and abuse.

These correlating conditions can often arise from issues of poverty, mobility and isolation, so the fan donation provides the perfect first step toward changing their quality of living.

Fan donations for 2012 began Friday at Fan Fare Friday, the all-day live music kick-off party held at Threadgill's World Headquarters. Local artists like Nakia, Matt the Electrician and Saints of Valory performed throughout the day, and KGSR did a live broadcast of Lonestar State of Mind show with headliners Guns of Navarone. All day and night, philanthropic music fans came with portable fans in hand to donate to the worth cause.

If you missed the concert, don't worry; there are plenty of other ways to get involved with the Summer Fan Drive throughout the upcoming months. You can drop off new fans (20" box fans or 12" or larger oscillating fans preferred) and high-efficiency window A/C units at the Family Eldercare office, any WellMed medical center or any City of Austin fire station. Family Eldercare also collects donations on their website throughout the year.

You can also pledge to build your own Summer Fan Drive team at home, work or church to raise money and collect fans on behalf of Family Eldercare. Full details are available online, but the organization asks teams to be very specific about the suggested donations to guarantee every offering makes into a home of a person in need.

It's going to be another rough summer. Let's help those who may need a little help making it through.

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2 wealthy Austin suburbs top list of biggest holiday spenders in U.S.

Photo by freestocks on Unsplash

Cedar Park, Round Rock, and Austin loooove to do up the holidays.

It looks like Santa Claus is going to be competing with residents in Cedar Park to see who brings the most lavish holiday gifts this year.

This festive Austin neighbor ranked No. 23 in WalletHub's annual report of U.S. cities with the biggest holiday budgets in 2024.

Residents in this well-to-do suburb are expected to spend $2,930 on their Christmas gifts this year. That's up $576 from the $2,354 they were ready to shell out in the 2023 ranking — and it bumped them up 21 spots from their previous ranking at No. 44.

The U.S. Census Bureau says that Cedar Park's estimated population of 77,516 had a median household income of $118,903 in 2023. No wonder they have the extra cash to spare.

Cedar Park consistently makes the list of the top U.S. cities with the biggest holiday spenders, and now Round Rock is also climbing up the list, landing at No. 39 this year, up significantly from its previous low ranking of No. 283 in 2023.

The average holiday budget in Round Rock skyrocketed from $1,148 last year to $2,538 this year in an eyewatering $1,390 increase. You gotta spend to stay on top.

The No. 1 city in the U.S. for biggest holiday spenders in 2024 is Newton, Massachusetts, a wealthy suburb right outside of Boston, where the median income measured in 2022 was $176,373. Slots 2 through 5 were all cities in California's Silicon Valley: Sunnyvale, Palo Alto, Mountain View, and Milpitas.

Meanwhile, Austin proper landed at No. 87 in 2024 with an average holiday budget of $1,905.

Each year, WalletHub calculates the maximum holiday budget for over 550 U.S. cities "to help consumers avoid post-holiday regret," the website says. The study factors in income, age of the population, and other financial indicators such as debt-to-income ratio, monthly-income-to monthly-expenses ratio, and savings-to-monthly-expenses ratio.

Whether an Austinite's holiday budget is under $200 or more than $1,000, it's better to prioritize remaining within that budget instead of racking up the credit card bill, according to WalletHub analyst Chip Lupo.

"There are plenty of ways to enjoy the holidays and show you care without spending much money, like hosting potlucks or giving handmade gifts," said Lupo.

Other Texas cities that made it into the top 100 are:

No. 7 – Flower Mound ($3,541)
No. 11 – Frisco ($3,412)
No. 13 – The Woodlands ($3,395)
No. 15 – Sugar Land ($3,214)
No. 18 – Allen ($3,070)
No. 25 – League City ($2,897)
No. 32 – Plano ($2,658)
No. 45 – North Richland Hills ($2,484)
No. 52 – McKinney ($2,386)
No. 60 – Pearland ($2,223)
No. 76 – Richardson ($1,980)
No. 81 – Carrollton ($1,932)
No. 92 – Lewisville ($1,848)

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