What a wonderful community we live in – through hurricanes and freak weather I’m always pleasantly surprised at how quickly the people of SW Louisiana and SE Texas respond and help their neighbors in times of trouble. And we all pretty much know and understand that rebuilding has two distinct outcomes: A) everything will not be the same again and B) it can take weeks and weeks, months and in some cases years to return individual properties to a livable/usable condition. And as with some properties and families we’ve known and seen in the past, they never come back. Where the house or business stood becomes a vacant lot, that family or business having moved on to another location, sometimes another town.

But we do what we can in the here and now. Let’s look at a few relief efforts in the area:

Louisiana1 Flood Relief Concert – This Sunday at the Lake Charles Civic Center starting just after church at 1PM until 10PM. The Funds raised will be used to assist recovery efforts in Jeff Davis Parish and specifically the Lake Arthur area. The lineup of bands includes: Sean Ardoin, Chris Ardoin, Jo-El Sonnier, Hotline, Rusty Metoyer, Flamethrowers, The Kadillacs, Mickey Smith, the Three37 Band and The Tug Boats. Donations to get in are: $20 for adults, teens 13-17 are $10 and kids under 12 are free. Get there as early as you can and stay as late as you want. The Facebook page is: “Louisiana 1 Flood Relief”

Wednesday, Tarver Ford and Lake Charles Toyota are selling plates of Red Beans and Rice for $7 a plate, to benefit the kids at Central Middle School in Baton Rouge. Stop into the dealers to pick up your lunch or call 337-478-3511 to order pickup starting at 11:30 (Wednesday Aug 24)

And also Wednesday, Walk-On's Bistreaux & Bar in Lake Charles (5329 Common St) are having a fundraiser for flood victims – from 11A until Midnight on August 24th, 20% of all sales will be donated. As well a trailer will be set up in front of the restaurant for non-perishable donations such as canned food, feminine products, baby supplies like diapers and wipes – new underwear and socks/brassieres, first aid and cleaning supplies for example.

As press releases and information comes our way we’ll continue to air and post where and how you can help because this cleanup is going to take a while.

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