Don’t forget to help

Oilfield Helping Hands (OHH), a nonprofit organization that helps oil field families in financial crisis, in March awarded its first grants from the Permian Basin Chapter to qualified recipients. OHH’s mission to provide financial aid to oil field families in crisis due to medical or other serious circumstances is made possible by support of its corporate members and volunteers.

To qualify for an OHH grant, an applicant must work for one of its corporate members or live and work in an area covered by the Permian Basin Chapter. He or she must also have a minimum 4-years’ experience in exploration and production and 75% of their income must derive from that employment. County territories supported by the Permian chapter include Lea, Eddy, Gaines, Dawson, Borden, Andrews, Martin, Howard, Loving, Winkler, Ector, Midland, Glasscock, Sterling, Coke, Ward, Crane, Upton, Reagan, Irion, Tom Green, Crockett, and Schleicher.

The group’s Permian chapter meets every month and on June 14 held its inaugural Black and Gold Bash fundraiser at the La Hacienda Event Center in Midland, Tex. The event featured a live auction and performances by American Texas country/red dirt singers Stoney Larue and Wade Bowen and a VIP after-party with Adam Wakefield from “The Voice.” Its goal was to raise $100,000.

Between its four chapters—Houston, Oklahoma, Rocky Mountain, and Permian basin—OHH has awarded more than $4.9 million since its launch in 2003 to 700 recipients. Applications for assistance are submitted to the chairman of the grant review committee by active members. The committee reviews new applications during each monthly meeting. To meet immediate needs, however, the committee chair and the OHH president may jointly grant relief up to $2,000 without review.

Real-world problems

The US Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that 1,566 workers died in the US upstream oil and gas industry between 2008 and 2017. From 2008 through Oct. 25, 2018, the BLS’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration cited companies in the extraction industry for 10,873 violations and investigated 552 accidents resulting in death.1

But OHH’s mission goes beyond helping those harmed on the job. Its web site, www.oilfieldhelpinghands.org, includes letters from aid recipients telling their stories. One family’s father was killed by a drunk driver on his way home from work. Another’s mother needed chemotherapy and radiation treatments in her fight against cancer. Yet another family lost its young son and was left with overwhelming hospital bills.

The tales are heart-rending, even just to read. The help offered follows in the tradition of OHH’s founding by several Halliburton Baroid Houston-area employees who organized a clay shoot to help a fellow employee after their life savings had been depleted by a series of medical events, raising $24,500.

OHH raises money through a combination of fundraising events, corporate memberships, and private donations. Individual membership is free-of-charge. Funds are disbursed based on need. Corporate members include both operators (Anadarko, Newfield, Southwestern Energy, etc.) and service companies (BJ, Halliburton, Apergy, Gator Technologies, etc.) of all sizes.

If you’re reading this you can become an OHH member, donate, or volunteer. Filling out a simple form on the organization’s web site will make you a member, joining the nearly 3,000 who have already done so; then it’s just a matter of how to become involved. Volunteer opportunities are myriad.

1. Morris, J., “Death in the oilfields: Fossil fuel boom brings mounting risk of deaths, injuries,” Texas Tribune, Dec. 21, 2018.