By David Vitrano

L’Observateur

EDGARD – The small west bank community of Edgard looks out for its own.

That is why when Lakeitha Louper, the 23-year-old mother of five who had been in a coma after being shot, passed away on Dec. 1, the civic group known as MACS — Men About Changing Society — sprang into action.

“We just wanted to take a moment out to give to her kids,” said Brock Batiste, the president of the group.

So on Saturday Santa visited the courthouse in Edgard with gifts for not only Louper’s children but many other children in the community as well.

As member Patrick Jackson said, the group is “small in numbers, big at heart.”

Accordingly, the work they do surpasses what one might think could be done by a couple dozen men from Edgard. What’s more, the men have certainly packed much good into the short time MACS has been in existence.

“This is something we’ve been talking about since we were in high school,” said Brock.

The West St. John High School graduates finally made the talk reality on April 3, 2010.

Since then, they have spread their good works to all corners of the west bank community.

In its eight months in existence, the group handed out turkeys for Thanksgiving, washed cars on July 3 and has helped facilitate the Positive Behavior Support program at West St. John Elementary School and the Big Brother program at West St. John High School. Over the summer, the group gathered some local athletes who made it to the NFL to let budding young stars get some advice from the pros.

West bank School Board representative Russell Jack, who has been a mentor to the group, called those in MACS “a fine group of young men.”

As for the future, MACS is planning a scholarship banquet to raise funds for west bank students. They hope to raise enough for everyone.

“We don’t want to leave anybody out,” said Brock.