Residents in Covington County are coming together to help the flood victims in Louisiana and Southwest Mississippi.
Organized by the Collins Fire Department, residents are invited to drop off supplies to help with clean-up and recovery.
Supplies may be dropped off at the Collins Fire Department, Seminary Town Hall, Rex’s Resolutions in Collins, Boswell Regional Center in Magee and Presbyterian Christian School in Hattiesburg..
“We will be accepting supplies throughout this week and next,” said Fire Chief John Pope.
The chief is planning two deliveries to the impacted area.
“The first will be sometime the end of this week, and we will probably go back the early part of next week,” Pope said.
The Seminary Police Department has joined the effort and will be a drop off point for supplies. SPD will be collecting supplies each morning and afternoon during school drop off and pick up at the Seminary Baptist Church House of Hope which is located on the corner of Main Street and Cherry Avenue.
Donations will also be collected during Friday night’s Seminary High School football game.
“The House of Hope will be open Friday night to take in supplies,” said Seminary Police Chief Michael Kelly.
Donations that are being accepted include bottled water, canned and other non-perishable foot items, personal hygiene items and toiletries, baby supplies, pet food, cleaning supplies, laundry detergent, blankets and other essential items.
Cleaning supplies are in high demand right now in the aftermath of the flood, Pope said.
“They are really looking for mops, brooms, buckets, disinfecting wipes, bleach rubber gloves, work gloves, storage containers and garbage bags,” he noted.
For Pope, helping flood victims is personal.
“I worked down there at LSU for years,” he said, “and I wanted to help. As for the Collins Fire Department, it has always been our mission to do the most good we can. We had a lot of help from a lot of different places during Hurricane Katrina, and it’s our turn to offer help to others.”
For more information on how to help, contact the Collins Fire Department at 601-765-5110 or the Seminary Police Department at 601-722-3205.
