Drax Biomass donates $30K to help communities affected by COVID-19, tornadoes

Drax Biomass is donating $30,000 to help families and businesses in northeastern Louisiana and southwestern Mississippi who have been impacted by the COVID-19 crisis and last weekend’s tornadoes in the Monroe area.

The funds donated include $20,000 from Drax Biomass to COVID-related relief efforts in Ouachita, Morehouse and LaSalle Parishes in Louisiana and Amite County in Mississippi, as well as $10,000 to help communities hit by the tornadoes in the Monroe and West Monroe area.

Matt White, Drax Biomass senior-vice president, said:

“The tornadoes experienced by communities across the region in recent days have been devastating and they come at a difficult time as we are all dealing with the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

It’s important to support the people and businesses in the areas where we operate and that’s why we’re donating $30,000 to help local relief efforts. Our thoughts are with all of those affected by these events.”

Headquartered in Monroe, La., with operations in the Southeastern U.S., Drax Biomass is committed to supporting the communities in which it operates by promoting sustainable forestry and investing in local economic development. It is part of Drax Group.

Drax Biomass produces sustainable compressed wood pellets, which are shipped to Drax Power Station in England and used to generate renewable electricity for millions of UK homes and businesses.

Around two-thirds of the sustainable biomass Drax uses each year comes from the U.S., where Drax owns and operates three pellet plants producing compressed wood pellets sourced from sustainably managed working forests in Louisiana, Arkansas and Mississippi.

The plants also deliver economic growth and jobs in the U.S. South.

“We’ve worked hard to keep our pellet plants operating, while keeping people safe,” White said. “The safety and wellbeing of our employees is paramount, and we have processes in place to ensure people are working safely. We are also in contact with our partners throughout our supply chains to ensure they are doing the same.”