Help for Lesley Simpson Maus

My name is Stacey Simpson Calvert.  I live in Dallas now, but I was born and raised in Baton Rouge, Louisiana - and my heart is still there!  Along with so many others, my sister, Lesley Simpson Maus, has had her life turned upside down by the recent flooding in South Louisiana when about 4 feet of water invaded her home in the Sherwood Forest area.  She would never ask for financial help, but she needs it, so I am asking on her behalf.  Widowed after her beloved husband and high school sweetheart Gary died at age 48 after a long battle with cancer, Lesley has struggled in recent years to support her 3 boys (her youngest starts college this year) and stay on top of a mortgage, home repairs & maintenance, and car notes, fighting some health problems along the way.  She teaches special education students in West Baton Rouge parish.  Any money raised here will go toward her $5000 dwelling-only flood insurance deductible, $500 car insurance deductible (her car was flooded in the driveway), and replacing the contents of her home, as well as replacing her son Connor's used vehicle (which was insured for liability only and is a total loss) so that he can commute to his freshman year at Southeastern Louisiana University in Hammond.  (Only Lesley has been set up as the beneficiary to this account, and only she can withdraw funds from it.)

Lesley has received much love, time, resources, manual labor, and support from our immediate and extended family in Baton Rouge and Port Allen, from friends and neighbors, and from her coworkers.  We are so grateful for it!  But I know many of my friends and coworkers who live in other parts of the country have asked if there's a way they can help, too.  She can't replace some of her treasured sentimental possessions and mementos marking a 26-year marriage and raising her sons to adulthood.  But a few dollars toward this recovery fund would go a long way toward replacing some of what Lesley has lost and getting her back on her feet.  If you feel moved to give to an organized flood relief charity instead, God bless you, and I would never discourage that.  This is just one other way to help someone who has been specifically affected by this terrible event.  Thanks so much for your consideration.

Stacey Simpson Calvert (Dallas, Texas)