How to help hurricane victims

BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) - Hurricane Laura will go on record as the most powerful storm to ever make landfall in Louisiana and Delta followed up just over a month later with a second punch.

There are several ways you can donate goods to families struggling in the aftermath.

Louisiana Farm Bureau

To donate to the disaster relief fund, make checks payable to the Louisiana Farm Bureau Foundation Disaster Relief Fund and mail them to:

Louisiana Farm Bureau Foundation

Disaster Relief Fund

P.O. Box 95004

Baton Rouge, LA 70895-9004

To learn more, visit www.lafarmbureau.org or contact Ashley Stephens at 225-922-6201 or ashleys@lfbf.org, or Kyle McCann at 225-922-6202 or kylem@lfbf.org.

Louisiana Hospital Association Research and Education Foundation

LHAREF has established the Louisiana Care Fund to assist hospital employees who experienced significant property loss or personal hardship as a result of Hurricane Laura. Businesses and individuals can contribute online at www.LouisianaCareFund.org or mail a check made payable to the Louisiana Care Fund, with a completed donation form, to the LHA Research and Education Foundation, 9521 Brookline Ave., Baton Rouge, LA 70809. Contributions are tax deductible, and all administrative services are being provided in kind so that 100% of donations will be used to assist hospital employees affected by the storm.

Community Foundation of Southwest Louisiana

Based in Lake Charles, the Community Foundation of Southwest Louisiana is already responding to Hurricane Laura. The foundation has been entrusted with donations from more than 1,000 people and businesses, including $500,000 each from Verizon and United HealthGroup. We deeply thank them for helping impact the lives of those who need it most in the affected areas. The foundation is among the quickest, most direct routes to give relief to people and communities who are in dire need. Funds raised will be granted to proven non-profits to pay for immediate food, shelter, medicine, and necessities, and will also support longer-term recovery priorities.

Click here to donate online.

Capital Area United Way

Capital Area United Way, in collaboration with Mayor-President Sharon Weston Broome, Community Foundation of Southwest Louisiana, and the Louisiana Department of Child and Family Services (DCFS), has launched a fund dedicated to serving Hurricane Laura evacuees being housed in state-designated emergency shelters across East Baton Rouge Parish.

DCFS will use the donated money to distribute gift cards to evacuees for the purchase of basic needs items such as toiletries, food, clothing, hygiene products, etc. that they otherwise do not have direct access to. Evacuees who receive these gift cards will need to be identified by DCFS and in residence in state-identified emergency hotels. Evacuees still in need of shelter can text keyword LASHELTER to 898-211 for the most up-to-date information.

Donations to the Hurricane Laura Evacuee Support Fund can be made here. Other disaster resources such as Louisiana 2-1-1/CAUW information can be found at www.cauw.org/disaster.

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