Volunteer Center needs help with Hurricane Isaac calls - KPLC 7 News, Lake Charles, Louisiana

Volunteer Center SWLA needs help with Hurricane Isaac calls

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By Theresa Schmidt - bio | email

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The Volunteer Center SWLA is asking for volunteers to help man the phones to assist with those seeking assistance stemming from Hurricane Isaac.

Executive Director Beverly McCormick said, "Thousands and thousands of calls are pouring in to 211 at our office located at 1023 Common Street in Lake Charles and we need volunteers to assist us in responding to these calls."

She said volunteers would help provide information and referrals about the available resources to the citizens affected by the hurricane.

The 211 system automatically sends calls to centers outside New Orleans when the call volume is too much for one center.

"We have the database and the resources of all the available resources in the New Orleans area and current area are being poured into us, faxed into us, e-mailed into us, called into us.  And we're keeping a database of all these available resources," McCormick explained.

McCormick said that those resources change by the minute.

"Shelters open, shelters close. Food distribution sites open and close. Food stamp assistance is available at certain times, certain parishes. All this data is kept current and is consistently fed to the volunteers answering the 211 telephones," she added.

For further information and to volunteer to take a shift, contact McCormick at 337- 513-4616  via e-mail at beverly.mccormick@310info.org. Call or e-mail rather than stopping by.

Look for more on this story on later editions of KPLC7News or at www.kplctv.com.

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