Cumming Volunteers Head to Louisiana to Aid Hurricane Clean-up

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

September 23, 2021

Over 2,592 Helping Hands volunteers from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints arrived in Louisiana to help Hurricane Ida victims. Among them were 100 volunteers from Cumming who served residents in southeast Louisiana

In their trademark yellow shirts and vests, Helping Hands volunteers cleared debris, removed fallen trees and branches, performed mold remediation, and brought hope with them everywhere they served.

Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints volunteered their time, traveled at their own expense, some even camping in tents around the Helping Hands command center.

Ryan Amott of Cumming said, “My daughter and son and I went out to Louisiana, to help with hurricane clean up. We wanted to help some of the people who had been affected by the hurricane. We camped with the members of the church at the baseball diamond in Slidell, Louisiana.”

“Each of the jobs we did were fairly large tree jobs. One tree had been sitting in a large puddle of water for some time before it fell and had large strains of water in various pockets inside the tree. It was messy work. It was a great experience serving with the other volunteers. The people were very grateful!”

Since 1998, Helping Hands volunteers have helped people worldwide whose lives have been affected by natural disasters and other emergencies. Thousands of Helping Hands volunteers from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints assisted communities with cleanup after Hurricanes Katrina, Ike, Gustav, Isaac, Matthew, Michael, Florence, Laura, and Sally and many others.

Kimball Newman, a local church leader, said, “It was a great experience to work alongside others who are striving to live a Christ-like life by providing this service.”

In total 1,706 work orders (1 order = 1 home or church) were completed by Helping Hands crews in the hardest hit areas of Louisiana. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints sent trucks of supplies to the area to aid the Helping Hands volunteers in their work. Wheelbarrows, chainsaws, tarps, tools, water, generators, and more were delivered in preparation for the multi-weekend cleanup effort.

Newman stated, “At each of these disaster cleanup opportunities, I have witnessed the power of service give hope and healing to those who were completely overwhelmed by the seemingly insurmountable work ahead of them. I have seen The Lord’s protective hand at work both in the lives of those we served as well as those of us who were serving.”