COLLEGE STATION, Texas — A&M students Vincent Hale and Dalan Jones are from Orange, Texas; just miles away from where Hurricane Laura made landfall as a Category 4 storm on August 27, 2020.
“Having grown up in a town like Orange, we had to watch our community rebuild itself numerous times after hurricanes like Rita, Ike and Harvey,” said Hale in a release.
That's why the two students are teaming up to provide aid to residents of their hometown. They've created a website where people can send donations to people in Orange and Orange residents can request help.
“We haven’t really set a fundraising goal, we just want to help as many people as possible in whatever way that help is needed,” Jones said in the release.
The duo has partnered with United Way to send resources to Orange and Southwest Louisiana.
They are also reaching out to local officials from cities in both Southeast Texas and Southwest Louisiana to determine where the greatest need for resources is.
As of Wednesday, September 2, 2020 Dalan and Vincent have raised more than $3,600, recruited a few volunteers and even provided a resource for those that need help.
“After we get a good gauge of where and how we can make the biggest impact, we will begin purchasing and delivering supplies to those in need,” Jones said. "We plan to keep our social media pages and website up-to-date with all of our progress and be as transparent as possible with how we’re working to give back.”
Dalan and Vincent also added if there’s anyone out there that has always wanted to help out like they are, no one is ever too young or too inexperienced to set up relief like they have.
If you know of someone affected by hurricane Laura and they're in need of assistance, you can go to Hale and Jones' website HERE. You can also follow their Facebook for updates regarding their relief progress.