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Laurel Advocacy and Referral Services is looking for a place to store incoming holiday donations after Tuesday night's rainfall flooded its basement with about three inches of water.

LARS Director Nancy Graham said the building's basement houses a community computer lab, two offices and a food pantry. All of the carpeting will need to be replaced, and some of the computers and furniture might be ruined, she said. But the food — including $1,200 worth of groceries that was just purchased with a grant Tuesday — will likely be saved, Graham said, because it is stored above the ground on crates.

"Luckily, that food was elevated," she said.

LARS is a community organization that has provided homeless and low-income residents with food, shelter and emergency assistance since 1987. The organization helps approximately 1,500 individuals and or families a year, according to its Web site.

As of Wednesday afternoon, Graham was unable to determine the exact extent of the damage because a contracted work crew was still pumping water from the basement. She said the building, located on Laurel Avenue near Route 1, is insured, but she isn't sure how much of the damages will be covered.

A bigger concern, Graham said, is finding a place to put and distribute the influx of donations LARS expects to receive in the next week or so, prior to the end of its Adopt-A-Family campaign on Dec. 19. The community could help most, she said, by holding onto its donations until the middle or end of next week.

E-mail Caitlin Moran at cmoran@gazette.net.