By Chuck Cannon
Editor

The Katrina Foundation for Recovery, a local non-profit organization formed in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, received a boost Friday when a National Football League defensive lineman added his weight to the cause.

Anthony McFarland, a former Louisiana State University Tiger and current Tampa Bay Buccaneer, joined Kathy Reeg to support the sale of "We love New Orleans" bracelets.

McFarland was introduced by one of his former coaches at LSU, Jerry Baldwin, who said the Winnsboro native has always answered the call when his friends needed help.

"He just wants to give back from what God has blessed him with," Baldwin said.

Kathy Reeg said the Katrina Foundation for Recovery, co-sponsored by Community Trust Bank and The Ruston Daily Leader, was begun to help those who were displaced by Hurricane Katrina.

"I had a desire to do something and God laid this on my heart," Reeg said. "I saw Lance Armstrong's band and thought, 'This is something that could band us together.

We just wanted to do what we could to help those who were suffering."

McFarland said he sees himself as a friend to those who are less fortunate than he.

"I could relate to what happened to those folks in New Orleans," he said. "I lost my mom a couple of months ago and I know that in my time of loss, it helped to have friends. I want these people to know that they have friends."

McFarland has his own foundation — I Can Wait — that deals with drug, alcohol and tobacco abuse, as well sexual promiscuity. He said he feels obligated to help wherever he can.

"At 17, I was self-centered," he said. "Now I understand things better. When you've been given a platform like I've been given, the right thing to do is to use it for good.

That's what I'm trying to do."

McFarland will lend his name to the Katrina Foundation for Recovery. Reeg said she hopes to enlist other celebrities for the cause.

"We've put in calls to several others," she said. "We are waiting to hear from other celebrities and organizations.

We hope to get as many people on board as possible."

The bracelets can be obtained with a $5 donation at any Community Trust Bank location, at The Ruston Daily Leader, and the Lincoln Parish Library and the Ruston Lincoln Chamber of Commerce.

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