LAFAYETTE, La. ( KLFY ) — KLFY News 10 and Catholic Charities of Acadiana teamed up on Monday to host a one-day, item-specific drive to collect relief supplies for survivors of Hurricane Helene. The drive resulted in the collection of enough supplies to load onto three 18-wheeler beds.
The drive took place from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Catholic Charities of Acadiana disaster response warehouse.
“Acadiana has really turned out in a beautiful way for those who are going through probably one of the toughest moments of their lives right now,” said Ben Broussard, Chief of External Affairs for Catholic Charities of Acadiana.
Broussard said south Louisiana knows what it’s like to be impacted by big storms.
“This time it wasn’t us. We always prepare for it. But when it’s not us, immediately our hearts turn to those who are impacted. Helene was a historic storm. Not just Helene, but Milton who came a few weeks after and hit a lot of the same area in Florida, but also moved up through these other states,” Broussard said. “We’re moved to do something about it.”
Items such as tarps, black trash bags, cleaning supplies, diapers of all sizes, and $25 gift cards were collected during the drive.
Broussard said the community has turned out in a huge way.
“I mean, we announced this thing four days ago and people have been doing drives and they’ve been showing up in droves today to drop it off. It’s astounding. But it really speaks to the spirit,” Broussard said.
Broussard said organizers initially thought they would only need one 18-wheeler to deliver supplies to storm victims. However, due to the overwhelming response, organizers will be getting two more trucks to take supplies.
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“Here in Acadiana, we know what it’s like and we know how to be compassionate when times get tough,” he continued.
Jade Stoute and Bekham Stoute shared how they have two cousins who live in Florida’s impacted areas.
Jade said they heard the message about the drive from the Church of Assumption in Franklin.
“We’ve collected a lot of things we’ve donated today because everybody needs help. Hurricanes are bad, and helping with hurricane relief is something we can do to give back to our community and people around the United States,” she said.
Sandra Soloman, with the St. Martinville chapter of the Drexel Society, said the donations the society was able to contribute were pulled together on Sunday.
“We have suffered the loss from hurricanes and storms and natural disasters of all kinds and so we just wanted to do a little part to give back,” Soloman said.
She said it’s important to give back because we were called to be of service to each other.
Samuel Lafleur, one of the volunteers with Sacred Heart High School, said helping others in a time of need shows character.
“It’s just a great deal to do for the people in the community,” Lafleur said.
Lafleur said volunteers did a packing competition to make the work on Monday fun. With two big crates, they had to take cans out and package them into boxes.
“It could get tiring after some time. So me and my friends, two people on each team and there’s a box and then one person hands, one person organizes, and then that’s how the competition goes,” he said.
Although it’s a race to complete the task, Lafleur said they ensured that the goods were packaged neatly and correctly.
“If you don’t do it correctly, you have to go back and finish it,” he said.
“I think it’s a great thing for people to do and should encourage it because it helps people and helping people is good for the community,” he continued.
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