By Major Jerry Bell, Emergency Manager
During Hurricanes Laura and Delta, DeQuincy received numerous help from cities in Louisiana and Texas. Mayor Riley Smith and Chief Casey Whitehead called a meeting of our local ministers to get a plan together to help some of the smaller cities that were hurt by the latest hurricane Ida.
A plan was formulated to gather numerous supplies, store in several churches, and then convoy the supplies on Thursday, Sept. 9, to Golden Meadow. The plan was to leave at 5 a.m. from the ball field.
Chief Whitehead had previously coordinated with Chief Troy Dufrene, the Chief of Police of Golden Meadow. Chief Dufrene gave Chief Whitehead a list of items that his policemen needed urgently. These supplies were purchased from the Police Association and earmarked for the Golden Meadow police officers. All the churches involved started collecting their supplies to go south. Riley Smith & Sons Funeral Home also donated a pallet of Gatorade for the Golden Meadow Police Department.
The pastors, church members, and police all met at 4:30 a.m. last Thursday to deliver the supplies. The 14 vehicles loaded with supplies left DeQuincy around 4:50 a.m. and after a 4-hour drive reached Golden Meadow. Chief Whitehead and Asst. Chief Roy Williams escorted the convoy to Golden Meadow. There, they were met by Chief Dufrene, who directed them to where to unload all the supplies. A church located near the city hall was the point of distribution.
The police supplies were unloaded at the Police Department. The citizens of Golden Meadow were very thankful to receive the supplies.
Shawn Cooper, Billy Mitchell, and Melvin Ross from the DeQuincy First Baptist Church cooked boudin and sausage for over a 100 people.
The First Baptist Church dropped off a load of supplies to the Assembly of God church in Galliano. B. J. Richardson and his wife Jennifer with other help from the Bible Baptist Church served hamburgers and hot dogs.
A special thanks to Austin Clark, all the pastors, and members from our local churches who participated and made possible this wonderful event.
On Monday, Sept. 13, Chief Dufrene called Chief Whitehead and thanked again for the support from DeQuincy. Mayor Smith stated, “It’s wonderful to be the mayor of a city like DeQuincy that helps other people”.
Mayor Smith also stated that he wanted to thank all the pastors and their members for coming together and making this event possible. Chief Whitehead also stated that he wanted to also thank the pastors and their members and the DQPD police officers for helping make this event happen.
All the citizens involved in this endeavor, many not mentioned, will be blessed for this undertaking. Our police department, and other city employees, especially the ladies at city hall, who gave generously for this mission will also be blessed.
