Mike Beach '89 Serves Food & Hope to Louisiana Hurricane Victims
Two weeks ago, Mike Beach ’89 set out in a food truck with Israeli chef Dani Arshadnia and a crew of people from Miami to Lake Charles, Louisiana, to cook for and offer hope to people suffering from the destruction of Hurricane Laura.
After a 36-hour trip and two blown tires, they finally arrived. They served food, water, and smiles for two days, while sleeping overnight in the truck. Each day they were there, they served 500 breakfasts, lunches, and dinners and witnessed hopeful signs, even in the midst of destruction.
“I cannot begin to tell you how proud of Mike I am. We have been friends for over 30 years, and the lessons that Loyola taught us are still being applied every day,” said fellow Don and Loyola Blakefield middle school teacher Christian Anderson ’89, who originally shared this story with us. “His story and the stories of many of our Dons gives me hope that our world is in better hands than I might sometimes think.”
Below is a letter that Mike wrote, along with some photos from the trip.
Men For Others
Loyola Dons are men for others. It’s not just a phrase. It’s not just something you say while attending Loyola. It is an ideology that we pursue. Loyola is a privilege, not a right, and to me it comes with responsibility and a sense of legacy.
The United States has been under intense pressure politically, socially, and with a global pandemic. How we cope with this is a choice we make every moment. Recently, I joined a group of international colleagues (including Christians, atheists, Israelis and Bahamians) to assist affected Americans in Lake Charles, LA. While it’s nothing we haven’t seen before, this theatre is a small geographical area that currently bears witness to tremendous acts of selfless altruism, as well as acts of unbelievable cruelty and selfishness, perpetrated in close proximity to each other. This results in polarizing emotional and physical highs and lows. These are the moments when we find out what people are made of.
At the end of the day, everything we do, including our own happiness (for which we are uniquely and solely responsible) and our impact on others is a choice. We have a legacy; use good judgement when making that choice.
Roll Dons Roll.
