2008 Midwest Flood Disaster Relief Fund Established

Make a donation to this Fund.

As the legal community, residents, business owners and local and state governments of five Midwestern states (Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois, Missouri and Indiana) continue to deal with the worst flooding crisis the area has seen for more than a century, the statistics logged to date are staggering. More than 20 Mississippi River levees have been breached, tens of thousands of people have been evacuated from their homes, property damages are estimated to be in the billions, and acres of farmland have been laid to waste.

Three years ago, when Louisiana’s legal community was dealing with the large-scale destruction and massive systemic disruption caused by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, lawyers, law firms, bar associations and bar foundations from across the country (including the Iowa State Bar Foundation, the Indiana Bar Foundation and the Illinois Bar Foundation) offered tens of thousands of dollars in aid to help shore up the ailing legal system — aid which helped many lawyers re-establish practices, either in temporary or permanent locations.

Now, the Louisiana State Bar Association (LSBA) and the Louisiana Bar Foundation (LBF) have established the 2008 Midwest Flood Disaster Relief Fund to offer financial assistance to the Midwest legal communities affected by this flooding, including those who helped in Louisiana’s time of need. Members of Louisiana’s legal community are being asked to donate money to the fund, with the local bar recipients themselves determining the best use of those funds based on the specific areas’ needs.

LSBA President Elizabeth Erny Foote is pleased that this initiative will give Louisiana attorneys the opportunity to have an active hand in the Midwest’s recovery. “This is Louisiana’s opportunity to reach out to those who reached out to Louisiana,” she said.

LBF Immediate Past President Elwood F. Cahill has just returned from a site visit to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, where floodwaters inundated 1,300 city blocks over a 9.2-square-mile area and forced the evacuation of 24,000 people. Part of Cahill’s mission was to determine the best ways to offer assistance and to get a firsthand look at how the legal system has been coping.

 “Witnessing the devastation in Cedar Rapids reminded us of the devastation here in New Orleans; it was as if we were driving in the Lakeview area post-Katrina.  By making a donation to the fund we can share with our colleagues in the Midwest that people do care and that recovery is possible.”

The fund will be administered by the LBF and allows members of the legal community to assist their colleagues in this time of need.  Donations should be made payable to the LBF Midwest Flood Relief Fund, c/o Louisiana Bar Foundation, 601 St. Charles Avenue, New Orleans, LA 70130.  If you have any questions or need additional information on the fund, please contact Laura Sewell, LBF Development Director at (504)561-1046 or laura@raisingthebar.org.