3 Ways to Help Baton Rouge Flood Victims Immediately

We are being inundated with questions about how best to help the Baton Rouge area in the aftermath of the flooding this month. The offers to help are overwhelming, so we’ve compiled tangible ideas and resources for you below. However you choose to help the Louisiana Flood Victims, the families and moms in Baton Rouge thank you … every little bit matters and counts!

***Is YOUR home flooded? Check here for flood resources and help.***

Cash Donations {or Volunteer}

It feels less personal to send money, we understand. That said, money is a fast, easy and efficient way to get resources into a community, thereby allowing those leading the clean up efforts to utilize the monetary resources in an efficient manner. Of course, be sure you donate to a cause that feels comfortable and secure to you. Volunteer opportunities are now also available with the Cajun Army.

• United Way Southeast Louisiana
• Second Harvest Food Bank {in partnership with Rouse’s Supermarkets}
• text LAFLOODS to 90999 to donate $10
• Text “broadmoorumc” to 77977. Click on the link you receive and choose Giving Type “FLOOD RELIEF”
• Salvation Army
• Companion Animal Alliance of Baton Rouge
• Tangi Humane Society
• Save the Children Gulf Coast Flood Fund
• Associated Professional Educators of Louisiana {goes to Louisiana teachers for school supplies}
• Catholic Charities
• Healing Place Church Disaster Relief
• Baton Rouge Area Foundation
• Together Baton Rouge
• There are also opportunities to give and serve via Living Hope Fellowship
• Junior League of Baton Rouge has been collecting and distributing diapers frequently and is instrumental in products for babies
• Rayne United Methodist {in New Orleans} has also been organizing flood buckets and volunteer opportunities. This link is another good resource for volunteer efforts
• All Hands Volunteers is also instrumental to the Louisiana flood relief efforts. All Hands Volunteers,  a volunteer-powered natural disaster response and rebuild nonprofit. The organization provides on-site training and covers accommodation and food for those who can get themselves to the project sites. They need long-term financial and volunteer support.

If you are able, we also strongly encourage you to volunteer your TIME, especially with demolition and clean up. Baton Rouge and the surrounding areas need as many able-bodied individuals as possible able to assist with manual labor, especially in the hot Louisiana heat. Volunteer Louisiana is a great place to get started, and Healing Place Church and South Baton Rouge Presbyterian Church are seeking help to serve the community. Jefferson United Methodist has been providing flood buckets for victims, as has Broadmoor United {Broadmoor is accepting diapers, wipes, cleaning supplies and water}. There is also a fairly exhaustive list of ideas and needs on WAFB as well.

Product Donations

***State Organized Warehouse Drop-Off***

Urgent needs are cleaning supplies of all kinds to help with the massive clean up effort, as well as items for babies and children (formula, diapers, wipes and clothing, including new socks and underwear, when possible). Rather than round up items that are no longer of use to your home (though there may be some helpful goods there, too), consider buying just a few small things that will meet a specific need.

Louisiana Flood Drop Off Locations

• New Orleans :: comprehensive list of drop-off locations for your products on New Orleans Moms Blog
• New Orleans, Baton Rouge AND Lafayette :: donate non-perishable food items to any Baton Rouge CC’s location and school supplies to any CC’s location in New Orleans, Baton Rouge and Lafayette areas! Please contact your local CC’s with any questions!
• Baton Rouge ::  Capital Area United Way {700 Laurel St // Baton Rouge, LA 70802}
• Baton Rouge :: Mignon Faget {7350 Jefferson Hwy, Suite 440 // (225) 932-9783}
• Baton Rouge :: Family Road of Greater Baton Rouge {we are accepting donations of formula, diapers, baby food, infant/toddler clothes 0-3T, infant wipes, feminine hygiene products, new sets of underclothes in all sizes, new car seats, new cribs and new pack-n-plays, towels and pillows. For more information you can call us at (225) 201-8888}
• Baton Rouge :: Grace Life Fellowship
• Baton Rouge :: Friendship Chapel Activity Center {2111 North Street // Baton Rouge, LA}
• Baton Rouge :: Broadmoor United is accepting diapers, wipes, cleaning supplies and water
• Gonzales :: Lamar Dixon Expo Center
• Prairieville :: Fellowship Church is accepting new underwear, toiletries, blankets and food {14363 Highway 73 // Prairieville, LA}
• Note :: Please be considerate in your giving. If it is junk or unusable to you, ask yourself whether or not it will genuinely help someone else OR if it will become one more thing to sort through. Learn more about when well-intended giving becomes a burden here.

Network Via Social Media

This sounds like a simple solution, but it works. Whatever it is that you have to offer, be sure to share on social media (specifically Facebook). Maybe you can offer to do laundry, send diapers via Amazon Prime, offer virtual grief counseling, gut houses, host individuals in your guest bedroom, watch people’s children or prepare a hot meal. It doesn’t matter WHAT you are offering; it just matters that people know you’re willing and able to give.

Throw your services and gifts out onto Facebook and watch the networking start to happen. Look at Louisiana Mamas to the Rescue as one example of women helping women. Often times, the more specific your offer to help, the more likely you’re able to find a productive match (i.e. “I have a large truck that I can lend for hauling donations – anyone need a hand?” or “I am willing to counsel 5 individuals virtually by phone for an hour each to help them process this disaster.”)

Helpful Resources For Louisiana Flood Victims

How to Help The Louisiana Flood Victims {Drop Offs, Donations and More} :: Moms Helping Moms

It’s Just Stuff, but It’s Okay to Cry

Tips for Handling Your Mortgage in a Flood or Disaster

Helping Children Cope After the Flood

The Incomparable Beauty of Community

10 Things NOT to Say to Flood Victims

10 Things You CAN Do to Help Flood Victims

To The 90 Percent, From The 10 Percent

To the Children of the Floods

Sights and Sounds of the Storm

Resources and Information for the Louisiana Flood Victims

As the Floodwaters Rise

Floodwaters Wash Over Me, Wave After Wave

We are the Helpers

When Floods Happen to Good People

Louisiana Pride :: Sending NOLA Love to Baton Rouge