Next in our series of posts about new Charitocracy nominees, we have nominee Louisiana Hurricane Relief @ All Hands and Hearts, nominated by donor RoamX. All Hands and Hearts deliver a Smart Response to those reeling from Hurricanes Laura and Delta, Louisiana's worst since 1856. You can find their web site here.

A few words on Charitocracy

Firstly, for newcomers: here's how it works. Donors pool their monthly contributions, as little as $1. The cause with the most votes each month wins the pot. No matter how much or how little you contribute, each donor at Charitocracy gets one vote. This is where charity meets democracy. So please share this post (see social sharing icons at top of post) and ask your friends to join us and vote! That's how we spread the word and, as a result, grow the monthly pot. The bigger the pot, the bigger our positive impact on the world!

About nominee Louisiana Hurricane Relief

Disaster Profile

On August 27th, Hurricane Laura pounded the Louisiana and Texas coasts, making landfall near Cameron, Louisiana as a Category 4 storm with 150 m.p.h. winds. Hurricane Laura tied the Last Island Hurricane (1856) for the strongest land-falling hurricane in Louisiana on record. While Lake Charles and the surrounding areas are the epicenter of the impact, damage from the storm spans a large area of Louisiana and Southeast Texas. There doesn’t seem to be a building left untouched by Laura’s fierce winds and power outages continue in parts of Texas, Louisiana and Arkansas.

Our Work

Our Disaster Assessment and Response Team (DART) has been conducting on-the-ground assessments. This week, as we meet with community members and partners to better understand the full impact of the disaster, we will work to establish our base of operations. Based on the need, we anticipate initial scopes of work will include chainsaw work, debris removal and roof tarping.

Our experience tells us this recovery will be measured not in days or weeks, but months and years. Every donation will count; a long-term commitment requires millions of dollars to assist people who otherwise would not receive support. In this difficult moment, we hope you will join us as we roll up our sleeves and get ready for the hard work ahead.

September 2, 2020 Update

Following our new deployment plan, which includes safety measures to allow us to work within COVID-19 restrictions, our team is focusing on:

• Building a work queue to provide immediate, priority assistance in Newton County, Texas and nearby areas;
• Partnering with Veterans Community Response, a chainsaw specialized group from Washington state, to begin high priority chainsaw operations;
• Setting up a supply line (with necessities such as food, water and fuel) and forward operating base in DeQuincy, Louisiana to be able to assist in the most-impacted areas of Louisiana;
• Continuing to follow-up on leads for a separate base of operations in the areas of Lake Charles, Louisiana or Orange, Texas;
• Applying for AmeriCorps Disaster Response Teams (A-DRT’S) and National Civilian Community Corps (NCCC) to join us once we have suitable housing established, and working with non-residential local volunteers;
• Developing the tarping scope of work to enable teams to assist the hundreds of families that have homes with roof damage.

So please visit the page of nominee Louisiana Hurricane Relief @ All Hands and Hearts to vote for, like, or discuss this cause! And check out this inspirational video that really conveys the personality and camaraderie behind their work: