In partnership with Sanderson Farms, the New Orleans Saints have teamed up with the Delgado Community College Culinary Arts program to prepare and distribute meals to four separate Southeastern Louisiana communities in need of support in the wake of Hurricane Ida.
On Sunday, August 29, 2021, Hurricane Ida made landfall in Southeastern Louisiana. The Category 4 storm became the second-most damaging and intense hurricane to make landfall in the state of Louisiana on record, ravaging the region and leaving a plethora of communities in need of food, water, and other everyday resources.
The Saints and Sanderson Farms sprang into action, engaging with the Delgado Community College Culinary Arts faculty and staff, and developing a hurricane relief series made possible by Sanderson Farms' generous chicken donation.
The food distribution series, with efforts focused on lending a helping hand in communities still feeling the effects of Hurricane Ida beyond the scope of New Orleans, kicked off Saturday, October. 9 at the Little Caillou Volunteer Department Station 3 in Chauvin, La., and is running bi-weekly through November 20. Approximately five hundred meals are prepared for distribution at each site.
"The Saints are thrilled to partner with Sanderson Farms and Delgado Community College to positively impact our neighboring communities following the devastation of Hurricane Ida," said New Orleans Saints and Pelicans owner Gayle Benson. "The meals that Sanderson Farms, Delgado, and our Saints staff are distributing specifically target areas hit hardest by the storm, and we hope these meals bring a sense of relief to those communities during this challenging time."
"At Sanderson Farms, when our families and neighboring communities are impacted by crisis, it's our responsibility to provide help and support as they get back on their feet," said Joe F. Sanderson, Jr., CEO and Chairman of the Board of Sanderson Farms. "We are honored to partner with the New Orleans Saints and Delgado Community College Culinary Arts to provide meals to these Louisiana communities."
"The faculty, staff, and students of the Culinary Arts program at Delgado know first-hand what it feels like to be caught up in the aftermath of a disastrous hurricane, having pulled together to rebuild their program in the years following Hurricane Katrina. Putting our skills and facilities to work in service to our friends and neighbors in southeastern Louisiana communities after Ida is something meaningful that we can do to help them. We are grateful to Sanderson Farms and the New Orleans Saints for arranging this partnership with our Culinary Arts program," said Dr. Larissa Littleton-Steib, Chancellor of Delgado Community College.
Most recently, the second round of the relief series took place Friday, October 22 at the St. Rose Community Church in St. Rose, La. Delgado Community College Culinary Arts students prepared and packaged over 500 servings of grilled chicken parmesan meals, distributed by Saints Entertainment Team members as well as Red Cross team members in the St. Rose community.
Approximately 390 meals were distributed at the St. Rose Community Church site, and the remaining food (roughly 110 packaged dinners and several pans of pasta, marinara sauce and green beans) were taken 20 minutes down the road to the Hahnville High vs. H.L. Bourgeois high school football game, where the players from these Ida-devastated communities were thrilled for their delicious post-game surprise.
Red Cross has been an instrumental collaborator, helping to determine each location, with their third and final round distributions and destinations to be announced.
