The Loyd Star Hornets celebrated a great victory recently over the Bogue Chitto Bobcats, scoring 55-0 in the annual Possum Bowl. But while the football team was taking home a win, the Loyd Star Beta Club was at the gate collecting money for Louisiana flood victims.

“We’re always looking for community service,” Beta Club sponsor Lydia King said. “If we can’t help our neighbor, who can we help?”

They were able to collect over $500 that day, and the move inspired the Loyd Star choir and choir boosters to also get involved. The two groups agreed to take their profits and give them all to the cause — despite their own low funds.

“It’s not like the choir has a tremendous amount of money,” Loyd Star athletic director Billy Vaughn said. “But they were really committed to the cause.”

With an estimated 40,000 homes damaged by the flooding, community members all over have been seeing the need and reaching out for help.

“I’ve been talking to the kids about everything you have in your house — you have to think that you lost it,” Vaughn said. “That’s what those people are going through, and that’s how big the need is.”

Vaughn said the Loyd Star Choir Booster Club challenged other booster clubs in the county to also raise money, but they were already involved in their own initiatives to help the flood victims.

“Everybody in the county has done a great job of supporting the flood victims,” he said. “That’s just the way the South is. We take care of our own.”

Through the efforts of the choir, choir booster and Beta cClub, Loyd Star students and faculty have collected between $3,500 and $4,000 in donations, according to Vaughn. King said all of the sports organizations on campus have also made pledges to contribute. King said supplies and money can be dropped off at the high school, and Vaughn can also be contacted for donations at 601-757-2512.