MS KICK Interim Executive Director Monique Armand traveled to South Louisiana September 24th – September 26th to assist Nola Creations in serving over 7000 meals to those still recovering from the devastation of Hurricane Ida. The towns/cities that were served were Houma, DuLarge and LaPlace. Each town has its own set of issues deriving from the Hurricane which range from no electricity, damaged homes, to completely destroyed businesses.

The original goal was to serve 3,000 meals to the people in Southeast Louisiana but exceeded that number by more than double. The effort in these locations was to show support to the local fishing community who have been badly affected by the Hurricane. Celebrity Chef Darrel Johnson, one of the newest Commissary Tenants at MS KICK and winner of the 10th season of the Food Network’s Great Food Truck Race, says “I was born and raised in New Orleans and my Restaurants and Food Trucks are in Bossier City/Shreveport, so it is only natural for me to give back to my community.” Louisiana Fish Fry is one of his corporate sponsors and he was tasked to bring hot and fresh meals to the people of Southeast Louisiana and outsourced for staff to support him and help accomplish this amazing feat. Chef Darrel then in turn reached out to MS KICK Leadership and asked for assistance in executing the project. Director Monique Armand assisted with the prepping of meats, transporting/storage of products, and day of cooking to prepare the meals for the various communities.

The meals consisted of Fried Chicken Breasts, Dirty Rice and Peach Cobbler in which all Louisiana Fish Fry products were used to prepare the meals. Louisiana Fish Fry products were also given out along with the freshly prepare meals. In addition to the meals being served, Faith Mission, respected not just in Texas but Louisiana for being one of the leading disaster agencies in the country, accompanied with the Salvation Army distributed Food boxes containing various toiletries and non-perishable food items to those who were in need.

The first stop during the relief efforts was Houma and transitioned later in the day to DuLarge. The following feeding took place in LaPlace where Councilwoman Tonia Schnyder District VI and the St. John Heat Youth organization led by Raffeal Neal brought bottle water, non-perishable goods, cleaning supplies, diapers, and other items to pass out along with the meals and Salvation Army boxes previously distributed at the other locations.

For more information regarding how your organization can assist in relief efforts, please contact Monique Armand at 318-670-9780, email mskick@susla.edu or visit www.mskick.org.