Baton Rouge Laundry Employee Fund

As we all know, yet few will ever be able to relate, Baton Rouge, LA was hit with epic proportions of rain that caused unprecedented flooding and havoc throughout many parts of the city.  At least 13 people have died in the floods and some 60,000 homes were damaged. The Red Cross says it is likely the worst natural disaster since Superstorm Sandy in 2012 and that the response will cost at least $30 million.  The National Weather Service says the likelihood that so much rain would fall in so little time was about one-tenth of 1 percent.  A flood this bad should only happen once every thousand years.  The floods didn't reach everyone in Baton Rouge, but there is no doubt that the entire community has and will continue to face a period of devastation that few will ever experience.  The rain was just the beginning as only time will tell how long it will take for the city and it's residences to recover.    



Westport Linen Services, Baton Rouge, is a healthcare laundry that specializes in providing reusable linens and uniforms to hospitals, clinics, surgical centers, and nursing homes.  Westport Linen is the largest, exclusive healthcare linen provider in Louisiana and employees over 200 workers.  In over 15 years, Westport has never missed a delivery through disaster situations and took on a huge role in aiding New Orleans throughout Hurricane Katrina. 



This campaign is directly aimed towards raising money to disperse evenly amongst each of Westport Linen's employees.  Many of the workers houses were destroyed by the floods and very few have flood insurance.  These people work every day to ensure the soiled linens Westport receives from its customers are laundered and returned to the hospitals in a clean and safe manner for patient use.  This is a key element in helping to prevent thousands of the unnecessary deaths that occur from Hospital Associated Infections every year.  

My name is Farley Salmon and my job is to supply linens and textiles to commercial laundries across the country.  I have had the privilege of working as a vendor parter with Westport Linen by supplying healthcare related linens and textiles since 2010.  I travel to Baton Rouge regularly and see on a first hand basis how hard these employees work.

I can assure you, laundering dirty linen is not the most glamorous job, but these employees fight the battle for patient safety every day.  I would ask that you donate what you can to help them stay safe during a time of need as they try to get their lives back on track.  Only time will tell how long it takes for Baton Rouge to fully recover, but your donation will help and is needed today.