When Hurricane Katrina slammed into the Gulf Coast 12 years ago, inmates in Texas prisons told their wardens that they wanted to help.

Specifically, they wanted to donate money to hurricane relief funds. So officials with the Texas Department of Criminal Justice developed a novel system: Inmates, they decided, could give away money saved in their commissary accounts; instead of spending their balances on snacks or sneakers, they would be allowed to give a few dollars to the American Red Cross.

Inmates ultimately cobbled together about $44,000 to help those affected by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. So when Hurricane Harvey spun into Texas in August, some longtime inmates who remembered the previous efforts insisted that officials restart the program.

This time, the fund-raising was even more successful.

In about one month, officials say, 6,663 inmates donated $53,863 for Hurricane Harvey relief — an astonishing sum considering many of the offenders typically have less than $5 in their accounts.