The Louisiana Strong initiative held a donation drive Friday to benefit communities affected by Hurricane Ida - and it all started with a dream.
For the relief fund, people were able to drop off school supplies, toys, water, food, and household goods at the Jefferson Street Pub.
"I've gotten phone calls from families that are directly affected its heartbreaking to hear their stories it really is, it's an emotional scene," manager Dylan Sherman said.
UL student Ryan Rodriguez said after the storm, he realized how lucky he and those around him are. He went to sleep thinking about it one night, and said he had a dream where he raised $1,000 to help those whose lives were impacted by the storm.
"And I just went from there and started to post everywhere I could."
He originally was gathering donations from the community himself, but quickly realized it'd be more efficient to partner up with the Jefferson Street Pub. So that's what he did.
"I want to get to every little place. I don't want to just go to one city and just distribute there and that's fine. I wanted to hit every community I can and spread it as widely as we can," he said. "I have already heard the messages from them and how truly appreciative they are and we haven't even gotten the supplies out to them yet."
If you'd like to drop off donations, they're being accepted at Jefferson Street Pub until 2 a.m. Saturday, then starting again at 10 a.m. Saturday until 2 a.m. Sunday.
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