Houston rallies for those devastated by Hurricane Laura in Louisiana

What started as a movement for Houstonians to rally around small businesses fighting for survival in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, has now been transformed into a new campaign encouraging Houstonians to rally behind and support the victims of Hurricane Laura.

For The Lee Group, the local marketing team that created Houston Rallies and ran the successful campaign for small businesses, “cause” marketing is not something new. The agency has helped some of Houston’s finest non-profit organizations build membership or increase fundraising for the better part of 40 years.

The firm’s first Houston Rallies campaign provided free marketing support for nine local businesses with a contribution of more than $100,000 in donated advertising services.

This second chapter of Houston Rallies is the story of how the brand has been deployed to benefit thousands of families in Southwest Louisiana that are currently digging out of the aftermath of one of the fiercest storms to ever hit our planet.

Hurricane Laura resulted in an estimated $12 billion in damage, a total death count of 27, and left many residents without so much as a roof over their heads.

With high temperatures and humidity pushing the heat index over 100 degrees, Lake Charles’ residents and others in neighboring parishes and counties are facing suffocating heat, a pandemic – and now what they say is the worst storm damage they’ve ever seen.

The Lee Group team immediately became aware of the magnitude of the problem while assisting their client, Avail Hospital, an emergency and inpatient hospital in Lake Charles.

A number of the hospital’s employees lost everything.

While Avail Hospital was fortunate to have a generator and soon received a donated water filtration system to remain open for their ravaged community, many businesses and certainly families were not so fortunate. Some still lack running water and electricity. And all still face the ongoing threat of COVID-19.

The fully integrated traditional and digital advertising campaign has been made possible with donated space and time from local traditional media sources including Houston Chronicle, Gow Media’s ESPN 97.5 FM radio, and SignAd Outdoor. Other vendor partners provided audio recording and talent. For an intense social media and digital campaign blitz, The Lee Group reached into their own pockets.

The campaign encourages Houston residents and businesses to donate goods to benefit individuals and families ravaged by Hurricane Laura.

Some of the most needed items include:

• Water
• Tarps
• Flashlights
• Food
• Diapers
• Pet food
• Toys
• Clothes

Best of all, individuals can donate supplies without ever leaving the comfort and safety of their homes.

WHAT YOU CAN DO NOW

Those wanting to help can simply click the donate button to view the list of the most-critically-needed supplies and purchase them on Amazon.

All items will be delivered to Avail Hospital in Lake Charles and distributed to those in need.