A church in Lockport devastated by the effects of Hurricane Ida was given a little extra help in cleaning up thanks to students from Catholic High School in New Iberia this past week.

Students ventured the Lafourche Parish community to clean up the damage caused to Holy Savior Catholic Church and its adjoining cemetery.

Organizer and CHS teacher Kate Migues said she had learned of the devastation of the area from a family member connected with the church.

“We knew everyone in that area was going back to their houses first and not focusing on all the secondary things yet,” Migues said. “We wanted to help some of the extra places like churches or schools.”

After getting in touch with Holy Savior officials, Migues said the priest welcomed the idea and a group of 40 people were organized on Sunday.

Migues said the students were mostly occupied with cleaning up the shingles that had been blown off Hurricane Ida, which reached Louisiana as a Category 4 hurricane whose sustained winds exceeded 150 mph.

A tarp was placed on the roof of the church due to the damage, and Migues said the local priest briefly let the group see the beautiful interior of the church.

Cleanup in the nearby cemetery of Holy Savior was also part of the group mission. Most of the student volunteers were high schoolers, Migues added.

“They had a great day,” Migues said. “They commented on how nice it was to come home to air conditioning.”

“The people doing this in their own communities still don’t have power; all you could hear were generators,” she added.

A supply drive was also organized to help with the residents of the area this week. Migues said bottled water, cleaning supplies, school supplies and other materials were organized this week and were delivered to Lockport in an effort for students and volunteers to give whatever they could to the residents dealing with hardships in that area of the state.

The CHS effort is one of several in the Teche Area that involves church or mission groups organizing to deliver aid to suffering congregations in the eastern part of the state.

Religious groups like A New Chapter PUSH have been organizing for several weeks to deliver aid to congregations in the Thibodaux area that have been similarly affected by the devastation of Hurricane Ida.

Residents in the eastern part of the state still have a long way to go following the hurricane’s effects. Many communities are still without power, and the wind and flooding damage caused in some parts of the state have been catastrophic.

Although the Teche Area was saved from the worst of the damage, groups from Iberia, St. Martin and St. Mary parishes have all been involved in helping those affected. St. Mary Parish government has set up several shelters for those who lost their homes during the hurricane, and several non-profit groups have been organizing to alleviate the hardships of many people who were affected.