BATON ROUGE - Local mortgage company Assurance Financial donated $15,000 to the Greater Baton Rouge Food Bank in December.

The donation was funded in part by an annual "Jeans Fund," which allowed team members to wear casual dress attire to work in exchange for contributing to the donation.

"Because of their donations, Assurance Financial is able to actively give back to the community we’re so proud to call home,” said Steve Ward, Chief Operating Officer for Assurance Financial.

Much of the food bank's equipment and 60 percent of its inventory was ruined by the floodwaters that ravaged a large part of the area in August 2016. 

Chief Executive Officer Mike Manning says the food bank’s employees and volunteers were preparing to distribute food for flood relief when the bank's warehouse flooded. It was the first time in U.S. history a food bank was taken offline during a disaster response.

Manning says the donation will go toward a general fund which will be used to purchase food, equipment and more. The bank distributes approximately 250,000 pounds of food each week to community distribution centers within East Baton Rouge Parish and 11 surrounding parishes.