To assist those who have been hardest hit by Hurricane Laura, LSU Law students are participating in multiple efforts to collect and deliver much-needed supplies to the Lake Charles area. The drives are being coordinated by the LSU Student Bar Association, LSU Public Interest Law Society, other LSU Law student organizations, and individual students.
Second-year law student Sam Ducote, a native of Hackberry in Cameron Parish, and his family have had their lives upended by previous hurricanes—Rita destroyed their home in 2005 and Ike did the same in 2008. He’s thankful that Laura only damaged his family home this time, but he knows many others in the area have lost everything, and he wants to help them.
“I and a group of my fellow classmates will host a donation drive this week at the Law Center and haul the donated supplies to Lake Charles on Friday, and then distribute them to low-income areas—house to house and neighborhood to neighborhood,” he says, adding the LSU Law students are to deliver items such as bottled drinking water, non-perishable food items, insect repellent, tarps, hand sanitizer, masks, flashlights, and gloves, since officials anticipate it may be as many as five weeks before electricity and water services are fully restored in the Lake Charles area. Donations can be dropped off in Room 107 of the Law Center between 7:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday, and from 7:30 to 11:30 a.m. on Friday.
In a separate effort, the LSU Public Interest Law Society is participating in a supply drive this week in conjunction with the LSU College of Agriculture. The items they collect will also be delivered to the Lake Charles area this weekend. PILS and the College of Agriculture are asking for donations of items such as plastic totes, batteries, gloves, fans, mops and buckets, garden hoses, garbage bags, hand sanitizer, bleach, dehumidifiers, mold killer, baby wipes, toiletries, N95 cleaning masks, rubber boots, and extension cords, among others. Donations can be dropped off at the PILS office on the first floor of the LSU Law Center, or at 106 Woodin Hall, College of Agriculture, through Friday.
