The Inaugural National Join Hands Day in Bogalusa on Saturday May 4th was a remarkable success. Over 50 volunteers turned out for the community-wide event organized by Project: Save Bogalusa.

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In partnership with the UPS Foundation, Keep Washington Parish Beautiful and United Way of Southeast Louisiana, Project: Save Bogalusa brought the national movement home by performing work on three properties in Bogalusa, all nominated by local residents.

The volunteer group and partners all joined hands and prayed for safety before the work began. For lunch, they stopped to enjoy fried chicken

donated by Popeye’s & red beans donated by Copeland’s Restaurant.

Work Summary:

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The Boyers on Ave H- Team UPS, Team Keep Washington Parish Beautiful and Team United Way tackled the overgrown yard owned by Cindy Lu Boyer. After cleaning the yard, Azaleas, Begonias, and Petunias were planted to give the home a polished look. Ms. Cindy stated that cars have slowed and stopped all day expressing how great her property looks!

The Long Branch Café- Team Boy Scouts America Troup 86, Team Save Bogalusa and Team Long Branch (consisting of loyal Long Branch patrons) took on the restaurant beautification project.  New trim work was added to the building to update the weathered sideboards. A new coat of paint freshened up the façade of the building. Window boxes were constructed, painted and filled with Purple Heathers. Flower beds were built while Lantanas and Lillie’s gave it the final touch!

Miss Annie Magee on Lincoln Street- A team of Save Bogalusa volunteers did property clean-up and lawn maintenance at the home of Miss Annie Magee. We build flower beds were filled them with colorful plants, including Daisies and Scrubs. Our most difficult case of all our nominees, Miss Annie’s home needs much more than planting flowers and maintenance. On Tuesday, we got the fabulous news that Mr. Dale Kimball with Epworth Project has agreed to build Miss Annie Magee a new home! We are so grateful that Epworth Project is going to provide the relief she needs.

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All of the home and property owners are completely satisfied and touched by the hard work and fellowship that was performed on Saturday.

A special thanks to all of our partners and sponsors, including The UPS Foundation, United Way of Southeast Louisiana, Keep Washington Parish Beautiful, CP’s Drug Store, Citizens Savings Bank, Moseley’s Jewelers, Wal-Mart, Home Depot,State Farm Insurance – Scott Catalanotto, Sonic Drive-In, Judge Bobby Black, Food Depot, Kevin Nielson, Sami’s Frozen Yogurt, House of Seafood, Mid-Point Feed & Seed, Lowe’s Home Improvement, Eye Save Optical, Small Town Auto/ Chris Penton, Charles “Mike” Cassidy, One-Eleven LLC, Pine Tree Associates, Atlas Rehab & Medical/ Dr. Marc Schroeder, Sears of Bogalusa, Winn-Dixie, A-1 Wireless, George & Susan Seal, Schilling Greenhouses, Mark Anderson, Dr. Gerald Berenson, Don & Georgia Spiers, Robert Nielson CPA, Pap’s Garden & 

photo 4Gifts, Blackwell’s Nursery, The Secret Garden, Walgreens of Bogalusa, Copeland’s, Travis’ Grocery, ZOBAY Properties LLC, The Daily News, Mt Hermon Web TV, The Times-Picayune, HL Brownstone, Wheat’s Building Supplies, McMillian’s Nursery & Gifts, Deirdra’s Florals, Crossroads Feed & Seed, Double Play Sports, Steve’s Ace Hardware, Popeye’s, Cole’s Rental, Roger Holloway, BlueBell Ice Cream, Tractor Supply, Simpson Sod Company, Mrs. Dixie Gallaspy and Buck, Linda, & Bubba Moseley.

 Thank you to the volunteers who made this event possible, including Tonya Stage, Jared Stage, Debbie Alford, Kitty Baker, Mark McGehee, Anthony ‘Peanut’ Jenkins, Logan Jenkins, Brittany Jordan, Zoe Busby, JoAnne Polk, Jessica Seal, David Barber, Baylie Williams, Lance Richardson, Aaron Wood, Kyle Joyce, Lorraine Bourn, Wayne Bourn, Brian Mizell, Wendy Williams, Alice Garrett, Ashton Callender, Chris Weintritt, Victor Dunomes, Collin McGehee, Cindy Boyer, Sharon Barbazon, SJ Barbazon, Collin McGehee, Rory Breland, Frank Reid, Debra Elee, Miranda Perez, Michael O’ree, Patsy Jordan, Jeff Whiteley, Brian Cowan, Seth Restivo, Quarius Collins, Melvin Box, Wayne Flynt, Foots Quinn, Teddy Drummond, Jaime Burchfield, Charlotte Champagne, Troy Barber, Tamara Anderson, Miguel Anderson, Adam Jordan and many more!

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