How one Louisiana-based company is helping hurricane victims in Central Georgia
How one Louisiana-based company is helping hurricane victims in Central Georgia
People in Louisiana know how devastating hurricanes can be – that’s why Thomas Equipment Company sent their employees to feed folks this week in Laurens County
CEDAR GROVE, Ga. — It’s been years since Hurricane Isaac and Hurricane Katrina struck towns throughout Louisiana, but folks there haven’t forgotten the damage – and the help that came afterward.
This week, a New Orleans group made the drive to Laurens County to pay it forward.
Thomas Biernatzki and Phil Demarie from Thomas Equipment Company served about 600 meals on Monday, and they were back in Cedar Grove serving more meals on Tuesday.
“Isaac – me and my family lost everything, we had five feet of water in the house,” Biernatzki said.
Hurricane Isaac hit in 2012, and that was seven years after Katrina devastated New Orleans, and other areas on the gulf coast. That’s why they drove nine hours to feed Georgians like Fallon Muncy, who were hit by our own hurricane just weeks ago.
“We’re still recovering,” Muncy said. “We lost everything in our freezer.”
She lives in Cedar Grove and went almost a week without power.
“I was surprised on how bad it really was,” Muncy said.
It’s a story that Biernatzki and Demarie know all too well.
“Katrina, and Isaac for me personally – I lost everything, and we had wonderful people that came and fed me and my family and my neighbors and I always said, ‘As long as I’m capable of doing it, I’m gonna help others,'” Biernatzki said.
On top of feeding folks, they even brought stuffed animals for the children.
Biernatzki said Thomas Equipment Company has been doing this for years during storm recovery. One time they helped out for weeks in Houston, Texas after a bad storm there.
“We probably had 16 people, we cooked about 3,000 meals a day for 14 days,” Biernatzki said.
He said he lost his own power during Hurricane Katrina for 14 weeks. And while a hot meal couldn’t fix that problem, it brings a level of comfort nothing else can.
And now, as Georgia’s getting ready to take in more evacuees with Hurricane Milton, Biernatzki wants folks who’ve been in his shoes, to remember this.
“Whatever you go home to, be positive,” Biernatzki said. “You know, you’re alive, move forward, and, and try to be as happy as you can.”
On Wednesday, the men will be back at Minter Baptist Church in East Dublin.
That address is 1012 Pleasant Springs Church Road.
They serve lunch from 11:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. and dinner from 4:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. or until supplies last.