St. Landry-Evangeline United Way announces the establishment of the Hurricane Laura Relief Fund to assist evacuees who are staying in St. Landry and Evangeline parishes.
According to Ginger LeCompte, executive director of St. Landry-Evangeline United Way, the fund will target individuals and families who are temporary guests, unable to move back into their homes after Hurricane Laura.
“We know that people are anxious and are overwhelmed with the stress of repairing or rebuilding, and we wanted to assist with emergency needs or even gas cards for traveling back and forth to their homes,” LeCompte said.
An evacuee registration form is provided on the organization’s website uwsle.org/hurricane-laura. Evacuees should submit their information to qualify for assistance when funds are available.
LeCompte said, “We want people to register so that we can reach out to them with help now, and then follow-up as they begin rebuilding.”
United Ways across the state have mobilized resources to assist the devastated area affected.
“We are fortunate to be part of a United Way system that allows us all to respond to emergencies and disasters that occur throughout our network,” LeCompte said. “While our work focuses on our local communities, we try to be responsive to our neighbors’ needs when the situation calls for it.”
Besides the Hurricane Laura Relief Fund and the Evacuee Registration, St. Landry-Evangeline United Way is collecting rakes, work gloves and heavy duty trash bags to be sent to the Lake Charles area. The collection site is the United Way office at 5367 I-49 S. Service Road in Opelousas.