Beaumont holds fundraiser for men injured in Flora oil tank explosion

PERRY COUNTY, Miss. (WDAM) - The Beaumont community is rallying together to raise money for six men injured in the Flora oil tank explosion that happened in July.

The fundraiser will be at Old South Monuments on Highway 15 on August 20.

“It’s a horrible situation for all the families,” said Lajuana Pulliam, an Old South Monuments employee. “We’ve got six men that can’t work right now.”

After news broke about the Madison County explosion, Pulliam and community members said it was only right to help these families with their recovery.

“We all got together and decided we needed to raise these boys’ money as quick as we could,” said Pulliam. “Because like everybody else, they had children start back to school, they got bills due. It actually grew bigger than what we thought it would, so we are hoping for a good outcome.”

Members of the American Legion Post in Perry County will also lend a helping hand by cooking hamburgers, hot dogs and spaghetti during the event.

“We gladly agreed to do that and donate our time,” said Rick Lott, Perry County American Legion commander. “Hopefully, it will be a good day, a good event to help raise some needed funds for these guys who got burnt. Because they are going to be out of work a long time, some of them may never go back to work.”

The fundraisers are also selling t-shirts with all six names of the men on the back of the shirt, with all proceeds divided between the men.

“We take every opportunity we can to get involved in all the community activities, especially good things like this, to raise money for these guys,” said Lott. “It’s a sad situation, but we still want to.”

Pulliam said donations of all types are accepted, and people can also donate by PayPal using the username: Fundraiser72922! or by calling 601-606-4603.

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