I rarely send out non-fitness emails like this, but this one hit close to home.

You may have caught the national news recently and seen how Texas has been getting hit hard with the worst flooding in the state's history.

There's a small town called Wimberley that was hit hardest and it's the home of a good friend of mine, Jeff Anderson (you might know him as the "Muscle Nerd").

I've known Jeff for about 11 years...he used to live not far from me here in the Chicago area before he moved down to Texas. We've done multiple projects together...he's a good friend of mine and one of my favorite people in the online fitness world...always ready to help people who need it.

• 70 homes were dragged into the river (some with families inside)
• ~ 350 homes are completely wiped out
• Many residents barely escaped with their lives as they were trapped in attics or plucked off of rooftops and out of trees

There are still helicopters flying the skies looking for bodies and most people didn't have flood insurance or were denied coverage so this will be a huge financial burden for them to piece their lives together.

Here's how you can help (and get something in return)...

Jeff has set up a GoFundMe account where you can donate (every little bit counts). I've put in a donation already myself.

Here's where to go to learn more:  http://www.gofundme.com/wimberley-friends

Jeff is also a combat vet and a survival author/expert and he saw lots of ways that people suffered more than they should have - if only they'd been more prepared.

Jeff wants to share these lessons with YOU.

For everyone who donates to the GoFundMe account, Jeff will be holding a special live online workshop with the "Top 10 Survival Secrets" you should learn from this type of a disaster.  This will be very practical advice you can put to use right away for any crisis - not just flooding.  (I'm familiar with Jeff's work and I promise this will be life-saving stuff!)

The entire country has been mobilized to Wimberley and helping out with recovery... now you can too... AND get some real-world training to protect yourself at the same time.

Please go and see all the details here:  http://www.gofundme.com/wimberley-friends

And if you would, please forward this on to allow others to help out and gain access to the training as well.