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- Ascend team members pitch in to help flood victims in Louisiana, Ascend Cares matches donations
Ascend team members pitch in to help flood victims in Louisiana, Ascend Cares matches donations
Ascend Performance Materials team member Greg Blanchard returned to his native Louisiana last weekend with a group of his colleagues to help the families living in some of the approximately 100,000 homes affected by the recent flooding disaster.
Blanchard, a technology and engineering director at Ascend’s Chocolate Bayou plant, grew up in Louisiana and lived for 11 years in Baton Rouge, one of the epicenters of last month’s catastrophic floods.
“My wife and I started seeing messages and pictures on Facebook from friends with houses flooded and belongings ruined, and we were seeing those pictures for several days,” Blanchard said.
Those messages inspired Blanchard to act. His former church, Istrouma Baptist Church in Baton Rouge, is coordinating relief efforts for victims in the area.
“Unfortunately, if the homes were flooded, they’re not safe to live in,” Blanchard said. “A lot of residents have gone to live with family and friends nearby. Some of them are living out of recreational vehicles, some of them are living in tents in their front yards and unfortunately some of them have no other option but to stay in their house.”
Those houses are now filling with potentially toxic mold. Blanchard and the relief teams help by tearing out flooring, drywall and belongings – “gutting” the house of its parts that were made wet during the storm – and applying mold abatement chemicals throughout the home.
“With a 16-person team, it can take 12 hours to completely gut a house from start to finish,” Blanchard said. “With 100,000 houses affected, it was fulfilling to help, but it’s very concerning because we don’t have enough people to help everyone."
Team members from Ascend's other sites also have answered the calls for help. In Decatur, Ascend team members sent a trailer loader with supplies to Baton Rouge on August 17. Blake Barbin, an onsite supervisor in Decatur, hauled the trailer and distributed the items in the affected area. Barbin’s mother lives in the flooded region and suffered significant flood damage.
In Foley, team members raised donations and purchased new items to deliver supplies on August 20 to area churches. Mimi Smith, Ascend's quality assurance manager in Foley, has family in Baton Rouge.
Ascend team members also are opening their wallets in support of the cause. The Ascend Cares foundation will match any employee contributions dollar-for-dollar up to $5,000 to support these relief efforts. Money raised will go towards relief supplies and mold abatement materials to be used in the area around Baton Rouge.
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