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A video by a Morgan City man documenting a desire to give back to those less fortunate has turned into much more than he and his friends who helped with the project have expected.
Jeremiah Soto, who recently traveled to New Orleans with friends to cut hair of the homeless, said he and his friends who helped with the video have received so much feedback that they are working to do more in various communities to make an impact.
Soto said in a recent Youtube video that he first discovered homeless people in New Orleans when he saw them while traveling to a New Orleans Saints game a few years ago. The images of those less fortunate stuck with him, and he said his talent of cutting hair he has been learning and perfecting in the past few years is a way he could give back to them.
“It was just something I was planning to do years back, and I thought it was the appropriate time,” Soto said Tuesday.
What followed the video’s posting on his Youtube channel Innovationmiah and local media coverage by KWBJ-TV 22 has been an outpouring of support he and his friends have received. Soto and his fiancée, Taylor Gros, as well as Soto’s friend Gavin Sauce, all of Morgan City, now are working on forming a nonprofit to do more.
The video has prompted people to send messages asking how they can help or donate.
A Facebook page, Innovation Outreach, has been established to better organize the trio’s efforts and more information will be forthcoming about plans and how the public can help.
Soto said plenty more things are planned for the future, particularly during the holidays.
“It’s going to be epic,” said Soto, a 2020 Morgan City High School graduate. “It’s going to be big, and we just want more people to be a part of it as well as help.”
When traveling to New Orleans to make the video about two weeks ago, the group had some nerves about the project, but it ended up working out well.
“The people we actually cut (their hair), they were all nice …,” Sauce said.
“Even the people that said no, they were genuine about it. They were sweet,” Soto added.
Sauce and Soto said it felt good to be a part of this project, in which Soto completed two haircuts out of about 10 people they asked.
“It feels awesome, especially to do something for somebody that you were once in a position in and to see them smile, it was like a million bucks,” said Soto, who said he can relate from overcoming challenges growing up. “It was way better than making any attention off of it. It was just incredible. It was a good feeling.”
Until more information is available on the group’s upcoming plans, Soto recommended multiple ways the public can help. He said they can do something positive for others, or they can subscribe to the group’s Youtube channel Innovationmiah, and like and share the videos.
Soto said there will be a secure way for those who wish to donate money for future projects to do so via the group’s Facebook page. He said no donation is too small.
As events approach, volunteering opportunities will be communicated to the public via the group’s Facebook page.

Gov. John Bel Edwards said he does not support Secretary of State Kyle Ardoin’s emergency election plan, calling it “woefully inadequate.”
Edwards, who signed an order Tuesday declaring an emergency exists for the November and December elections, said that unless the secretary of state revamps his plan, any emergency plan implemented in Louisiana “will likely have to come from the courts.”
The governor said that his concerns with the plan are that it:
—Doesn’t factor in the severity of the pandemic and voters’ health and safety.
—It doesn’t use appropriate Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Guidance on key aspects.
—It provides no absentee mail-in voting options for those at a high risk of catching COVID-19 or those taking care of them.
“In fact, there’s not even consideration given to those people who have been told to quarantine because they’ve been in close contact with someone who’s been positively diagnosed as having COVID and they’ve been told don’t leave your house for 14 days,” Edwards said. “They’re not eligible to request an absentee ballot.”
Edwards said he doesn’t understand why the state’s plan isn’t as strong as the one used in earlier elections this year during the pandemic when there is more COVID in the state now than there was earlier this year.
“We need to find a solution that works for the public health of our people and also for the health of our democracy,” Edwards said in a news release. “We had an election plan for the past two smaller elections that worked by expanding early voting but also allowing for an expansion of absentee mail in voting. That we wouldn’t continue this for November’s election — the highest profile one of the year — makes absolutely zero sense to me.”
Any plan submitted by Ardoin has to receive both the governor and the legislature’s approval.
Ardoin told Baton Rouge TV station WBRZ in a statement that he would not be changing the plan.
“The plan the governor prefers was developed under a stay-at-home-order; our state is currently in Phase Two,” Ardoin said in his statement. “I negotiated the best possible plan that could pass the legislative committees, and if this issue must be resolved in the courts, I hope any ruling would include the critical mechanisms our office needs to administer the election.”

Bayou Horseshoe Pitchers Association
Summer League
Week 9
W L
Let’s Geaux 59.5 21.5
Buffet Margaritaville 54.5 26.5
Horseshoes Grt Again 48 33
3 Guys & A Gal 36 45
Let Er Rip 27 54
High scratch point average: (30’) Tim Gilmore 80.6, Calvin Johnson 43.4 and Mary Guzdial 23.3; and (40’) Clyde Landry 52.7, Dwain Arceneaux 48.7 and Dale Pearce 47.6.
High individual ringer percentage: (30’) Gilmore 61.3, Johnson 21.7 and Guzdial 8.3; and (40’) Landry 31.3, Giroir 29.4 and Arceneaux 28.7.
High scratch game: (30’) Gilmore 96, Johnson 54 and Guzdial 34; and (40’) Giroir 69, Landry 68 and Dale Pearce 64.
Most ringers: (one night) Gilmore 79, Landry 48, Glenn Miller 44 and Giroir 44; (one game) Gilmore 30, Landry 20, Giroir 19, Pearce 17, Arceneaux 17 and Miller 16.
Most points one night: Gilmore 257, Landry 178, Giroir 178, Pearce 167, Arceneaux 166 and Miller 165.
High game over average: Giroir 22.1.
High handicap game: Giroir 108, Rhodes 105, Pearce 105, Gilmore 105, Tyler Bourdier 104 and Landry 101.
Best won-loss record: Jim Guzdial 10-2, Bourdier 16-5, Gilmore 15.5-5.5 and Johnson 13-5.
Most points one night – team: Make Horseshoes Great Again 480 and Let’s Geaux 461; and most ringers one night – team: Make Horseshoes Great Again 122 and Let’s Geaux 122.

THIBODAUX — Nicholls State University has received a $1.2 million gift from local businessman and philanthropist Arlen “Benny” Cenac Jr.
Of that, $500,000 will be used for the Nicholls Greenhouse Renovation Project. The gift will allow Nicholls to demolish the existing facility and build the Arlen Cenac Greenhouse in honor of his father, pending University of Louisiana System Board approval. The glass portion will be constructed at a later date.
The new multi-use building will include a classroom to hold community cooking and gardening classes and a kitchen space. The facility has been designed to host events and receptions for campus activities and for rent to the public.
Once constructed, the glass greenhouse will house hydroponic towers to grow vegetables and herbs that are used in the classroom and sold to the community by the Bridge to Independence Program and the Chef John Folse Culinary Institute.
“I was first introduced to the Bridge program about three years ago, and I immediately saw how marvelous the program was,” Cenac said in a news release. “To see the students’ faces and to see them grow and learn on their own, to be independent, it meant a lot to me.
“I get a lot of requests for money, but this one hit close to home for me because I have a son with a physical disability. When they talked about the new greenhouse, I said this is something I have to do.”
Demolition of the old building and greenhouse took place in February, and construction of the new facility began in April. The construction of the glass greenhouse will begin once the multi-purpose facility is complete.
“We have many generous donors, but Mr. Cenac is a game changer for us,” Nicholls President Jay Clune said in the news release. “He is transforming the lives of these young people. Bridge to Independence gives opportunity and purpose to special students who have so many gifts to give in life. And this gets them started on that road.”
The remaining $700,000 of Cenac’s donation will go to the Nicholls Foundation and be used for activities and sponsorships across campus.
The Nicholls Found-ation manages approximately $25 million in endowed funds and provides about $2 million annually to the university through over 26 endowed scholarships and 63 professorships. Additionally, the foundation assists with ongoing campus needs through annual funding and major donor acquisition efforts with a focus on facility improvements and construction.
A long-time boat and offshore captain, Arlen Cenac, Sr. was the president and owner of Cenac Towing Company from 1964 to 1983.
As third-generation owner of Cenac Marine Services, Cenac has served on the Nicholls College of Business Advisory Board, Nicholls State University Foundation and the board of Restore or Retreat. He is also a member of Waterways Operators, the South Center Industrial Association, the Bayou Community Foundation and the Greater New Orleans Foundation.
“Nicholls is my alma mater, and I try to give back as much as Nicholls gave to me,” Cenac said. “I was very fortunate to come to school here. Nicholls gave me the foundation to be successful in life. It’s an institution that I believe in, and I believe it has been great for the Bayou Region.”