The Arc of Acadiana has been doing the Arc of Acadiana Bead Drive for over 15 years, and their mission statement is to be committed to securing for all people with developmental disabilities the opportunity to develop, participate, and live life to their fullest potential.
"The beads come to our warehouse, we sort them and then we sell them." said, Theodore Demouchet, employee at Arc of Acadiana.
Donating beads may have a positive impact on the environment as well.
According to Gretchen Lacombe, Director of Sustainability for UL she says "It is critical, especially for Lafayette, Acadiana, and our region, that we get all of this Mardi Gras debris picked up as soon as possible, before we have any storm event when beads and other carnival trash get into the storm water management system, it can cause problems that lead to flash flooding and that's not the only benefit to keeping beads out of the environment, farther down the road, it protects our wildlife," she said.
"So there's different resale locations throughout Acadiana from Opelousas all the way to Abbeville, Lafayette, New Iberia we have bins in the community at local businesses. Bins are picked up probably the first week in March." said, Chelsea Guidry, Program Manager at Arc of Acadiana.
Beads can be dropped off here.
