Drax Biomass Senior Vice President Matt White, said,“Hurricane Laura has been devastating to many communities in the region. It’s come at a difficult time as we’re all still dealing with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It’s important to support the people and communities in the areas where we operate. That’s why we’re donating $20,000 to help local relief efforts. Our thoughts are with everyone affected by the hurricane.”
In the immediate relief efforts, United Way focused on food assistance for vulnerable people with limited resources who can’t access mass food distributions and helped people whose homes were destroyed or severely damaged by the hurricane. The Food Bank distributed food to agencies as well as to people in the impacted areas.
Jean Toth, Executive Director of the Food Bank of Northeast Louisiana, said,“We’ve faced three disasters this year – the pandemic, a tornado and most recently a hurricane. The support we received from Drax Biomass has helped us set up large, drive-through food distributions in the five most impacted parishes, helping our neighbours replace the food they lost due to power outages.
“Support from local businesses like Drax Biomass has enabled the Food Bank to purchase much-needed food and supplies so we can re-stock our shelves and help those facing hunger in Northeast Louisiana.”
Headquartered in Monroe, LA, with operations in the Southeastern U.S., Drax Biomass is committed to supporting the communities in which it operates by promoting sustainable forestry and investing in local economic development. It is part of British energy company Drax Group.
Drax Biomass produces sustainable compressed wood pellets, which are shipped to Drax Power Station in England and used to generate renewable electricity for millions of UK homes and businesses.
Around two thirds of the sustainable biomass Drax uses each year comes from the U.S., where Drax owns and operates three pellet plants producing compressed wood pellets sourced from sustainably managed working forests in Louisiana, Arkansas and Mississippi.
The plants also deliver economic growth and jobs in the US south.
“We’ve worked hard to keep our pellet plants operating, while keeping people safe,” White said. “The safety and wellbeing of our employees is paramount, and we have processes in place to ensure people are working safely. We are also in contact with our partners throughout our supply chains to ensure they are doing the same.”
Photo: Louisiana National Guard helping at a Food Bank drive-through distribution area in Ruston in Lincoln parish. Credit: Sarah Hoffman
