With Hurricane Ida leaving many in South Louisiana without electricity and water services, which may not return for weeks, Donny Rouse, CEO of Rouses Markets, announced a disaster relief fund seeded with $100,000 from the company.
This first $100,000 in the Rouses Markets Disaster Fund will go to team members in Terrebonne and Lafourche parishes who have suffered devastating losses to their homes and personal belongings due to Hurricane Ida. The bayou area took the brunt of the storm.
The Rouses Markets Disaster Fund is a registered 501(3)c charitable organization.
The family-owned company is also working with its supplier partners to raise donations for the fund.
“We have received an outpouring of support from our vendor community,” said Rouse. “A lot of them know our affected team members personally; they work with them every day.”
Team members in areas in Louisiana and Mississippi that were affected by Ida are being paid time-and-a-half right now, and the company is providing free meals.
“Our team members are taking care of our customers, helping their neighbors in need, even as they are putting the pieces of their own lives back together,” said Rouse. “We are so grateful and lucky to have the team that we do.”
Team members in affected areas where Rouses Markets has fuel tanks are also able to get 20 gallons of free fuel, while supplies last.
In the spirit of locals helping locals, Rouses Markets, headquartered in Thibodaux, Louisiana, will launch a donation campaign online and in its stores across the Gulf Coast.
