Fairhope lends a helping hand to Louisiana flood victims

City adopts parish in outpouring of public support

By Crystal Cole
Posted 8/24/16

Many in our area have heard about the devastating flooding that recently hit Louisiana, but one Eastern Shore city stepped up and is doing something for those affected.

Last week, the City of …

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Fairhope lends a helping hand to Louisiana flood victims

City adopts parish in outpouring of public support

Posted

Many in our area have heard about the devastating flooding that recently hit Louisiana, but one Eastern Shore city stepped up and is doing something for those affected.

Last week, the City of Fairhope’s Police Department announced it would be adopting Livingston Parish and would be gathering supplies and items for officers to take to the flood damaged region.

Fairhope Special Events Coordinator Paige Crawford said word quickly spread throughout the city and people were lining up to bring needed items for the flood victims.

“When there is a need, the folks in this community are always ready to lend a hand beyond expectation,” Crawford said last Thursday. “It was short-notice, but the city put out the call for donations as officers could deliver them in person. It hasn’t even been a full day and the squad vehicles are already packed.”

Crawford said the victims in Livingston Parish are in need of cleaning supplies, toiletries, pet supplies, hand sanitizer, Chapstick, bug spray and individually wrapped snacks.

One special donation, however, was a part of the many items brought in by some of Fairhope’s youngest residents.

“In addition to the boxes and bags of cleaning supplies, dog food and snacks, there was one little bag that was delivered by a group of small children to the Nix Center,” a Fairhope PD official said. “Inside that little white shopping bag were numerous stuffed animals. There was a giraffe, a crab, dolphin, a puppy and even a sock monkey. It took a moment for the staff to realize but each stuffed animal had a special hand-written note attached to it. One of the children spoke up and noted that the stuffed animals were for the little kids who were sad, and could the police officers give it to them.”

Fairhope residents Gil and Randal Wright were among the many who gave donations to the effort, and Randal said it was no-brainer to want to help.

“Louisiana is basically right down the road, so they’re like our next door neighbors,” Randal said. “We’ve lived in areas where we’ve had disasters, so we know what it’s like to go through something like that. It makes such an emotional and psychological change to go through something like that, so anything we can do to help the people there is going to be for the better.”

Crawford said another shipment of items will leave Fairhope today and head for Livingston Parish, where she said the people are grateful for the love and support being shown.