BATON ROUGE - This is a very busy time of year for the Salvation Army. The Baton Rouge chapter says it will gladly take your gently used items for people in need.

Cpt. Brett Meredith with the Salvation Army says a lot of people still don't know, the Baton Rouge shelter flooded in August.

"I run into 20 people a week that didn't know that we flooded," said Meredith.

The Baton Rouge shelter, along with the kitchen flooded in August. While that facility is being rebuilt, the Salvation Army is currently serving hot meals out of its mobile unit and collecting donations at the old Winn Dixie at 6800 Greenwell Springs Road.

"We're functioning out of buildings that we wouldn't normally be in because we can't go back into our facilities at this point," said Meredith.

The week between Christmas and New Years is typically a busy one for the Salvation Army, but reaching normalcy has been tough for many since the flood, resulting in lower donation numbers. It showed during the Salvation Army kettle bell season. Meredith says donations to serve the community came in about $65,000 short this year.

The top two items the Salvation Army is in need of right now, are clothes and furniture. Meredith asks anyone who happens to be cleaning out their closed to donate their gently used items. A lot of those items are needed to help operate the Salvation Army's drug and alcohol rehabilitation program. 

"If we don't get those donations, we have nothing to sell and if we have nothing to sell and we just aren't able to operate that program," said Meredith.

The closest open Salvation Army store open at this time is in Gonzales.

Donations are tax deductible, just be sure to pick up a form when the items are dropped off.