While recovering from surgery and evacuated to Scott, La., Reverend Monsignor James Gaddy has been constantly on the phone, coordinating donations from across the country for his parishioners and all displaced by the wrath of Hurricane Laura.
Monsignor Gaddy, senior priest and pastor of St. Mary of the Lake Catholic Church in Big Lake, also opened his new parking lot for the Salvation Army to provide three hot meals a day, conveniently accessible to the St. Mary of the Lake community and the residents of Big Lake and the western side of Grand Lake.
Across Grand Lake at Hackett’s corner, Chad and Michelle Mudd had their property cleared, rocked and tented. Mudd Bruchhaus & Keating Law Firm in Lake Charles partnered with Talbot, Carmouche & Marcello in Baton Rouge to establish the “Giving Back to Cameron Parish” Distribution Site at Hacketts Corner, donating non-stop gasoline, diesel and ice, under tents supplied with fans, restrooms and hand washing stations.
This privately funded site has provided for Catholic dioceses and church parishes across the country to supply cleaning, health, hygiene, baby and food supplies to the parishioners of Sacred Heart of Jesus, Our Lady Star of the Sea and St. Eugene, as they head home to face the destruction of their homes, as well as St. Patrick’s parishioners and other residents of Grand Lake.
Once in Creole, Venture Global and Kiewit joined forces to clear John and Mary Canik’s destroyed Canik’s Grocery and provide the perfectly located Tarpon Distribution Center, manned by South Cameron High School teachers and friends of Cameron Parish.
On the west side, Our Lady of the Assumption parishioners and Johnson Bayou residents can stop by both the Johnson Bayou Fire Station and the Hackberry Community Center, serving St. Peter’s parishioners and the residents of Hackberry for supplies.
On Friday, September 4, the Cameron Lions Club opened a distribution center with restrooms at Holly Beach. Each and every one of these sites have both lunch and dinner provided daily by non-profit and religious organizations. All Cameron Parish residents are welcome to visit any distribution site in the parish.
Only nine days post-Laura, Cameron Parish is moving forward with the assistance and generosity of so many.
