LAKE CHARLES, La. (AP) - All around the Lake Charles community in the past month people have been doing their best to shine some light and provide some joy to those devastated by Hurricane Laura.
The Capital One Tower in Lake Charles was heavily damaged, many of its windows being shattered by the storm. The glass that once mirrored the beautiful shoreline of Lake Charles is now being used to mirror the hopes of those in the community through several jewelry pieces being created for a project called “Picking Up the Pieces.”
Rachal Sollay, a now-displaced member of the Lake Charles community, and Sarah O’Neil of Moss Bluff are two that have come together to found the project.
The entire operation began with a Facebook post Sollay made after finding a shard of glass while on the boardwalk. She posted how she thought it would be beautiful in a necklace, and the overwhelming response she had to the post drew O’Neil to comment, offering her help.
The two went on from there to pair with several local artists and volunteers to organize an auction and a sale of their pieces to help those in the community, especially the elderly, recover from Hurricane Laura.
“I was letting the comments roll in and not really saying anything back … then Sarah commented on that post and said ‘Rachel this is such a great idea, how can I help?’” explained Sollay.
“We’ve had a lot of local artist that have reached out … they’ve created some really unique auction pieces for us, so that’s exciting,” enthused O’Neil, “We’re—-me and Rachel-are so excited to be able to actually put the money where we can physically see it helping others, you know? We wanted to help local families and individuals…we really want to focus on the elderly because that’s always been close to our heart.”
The sale featured magnets, necklaces, rearview ornaments, and more.
Along with the sale, the organization also hosted an online auction to raise money.
The auction started with a 10-year old relative that had put together a mosaic, the piece escalating from the starting price of $40 to ending at $3,700. Other pieces, such as earrings, were also up for bidding.
One of most unique pieces that was contributed is from a local artist, 22-year old Kaitlyn Trahan.
“I saw the broken shards and I knew that I could paint a good landscape, so I offered to paint the … Lake Charles skyline and then I could take those broken pieces and put the new with the old,” explained Trahan.
Her piece features the Lake Charles skyline, the Capital One Tower covered in shards of the glass.
Trahan has been helping putting things together and is volunteering at the downtown sale Sunday
“Indescribable, honestly,” began Trahan when asked how it was helping with the project, “I love what they’re doing and I wanted to be a part of it as soon as I heard about it. I love that we’re taking the energy that we have and instead of being stagnant we’re more so putting the energy into the community, and it’s all positive. It’s amazing.”
Another artist, 25-year old glass artist Jade Higginbotham, created key chains from the Capital One Tower glass and even had members of the community join at her residence to create some for the sale Sunday morning. Higginbotham is continuing to work, like so many others, on pieces to support the cause.
“I really want to highlight her because she has worked so hard for this project,” expressed Sollay.
The pair leading the project emphasized how much it meant to them that artists like Trahan and Higginbotham reached out with their services and have put so much time and effort into the project.
“Oh, it’s so fulfilling, it’s so exciting. We never-Sarah and I-never anticipated such a big response from the community over this project but we have seen it bring so much unity and happiness and such a happy distraction from, you know, the tragedy and the devastation around us. These pieces, we’re seeing them bring hope and comfort to the community. We feel honored and blessed to have been able to … bring this project to life,” enthused Sollay.
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