Hot meals, gas, supplies reach Destrehan residents

Enough jambalaya to feed 1,500 people, cases of water and other drinks and brotherhood were in large supply Sept. 2 at St. Charles Borromeo Parish in Destrehan, just four days after Hurricane Ida pounded the area with wind speeds up to 150 mph and driving rain that damaged houses and businesses not only in St. Charles Parish but also in many civil parishes that comprise the Archdiocese of New Orleans.

Car after car of hurricane-beaten people drove through a mobile canteen of sorts that was distributing 210 gallons of jambalaya, cases of water and soft drinks to anyone who needed the resources.

The generosity of food was courtesy of the Knights of Columbus Father Placide Dobyns Council 1819 at Annunciation Parish, whose members drove nearly 80 miles and more than 1 1/2 hours from Bogalusa.

“We came here to get some food, and we really appreciate it,” said Curtis Leray, who, with his wife Teri and two children, had evacuated Houma for safety at a relative’s home near St. Charles Borromeo, which was still without power on Sept. 10.

They are parishioners at St. Francis de Sales Cathedral Parish in Houma, and knew nothing at that time about the damage to their home.

Father Daniel Brouillette (“Father Bru”), pastor of Annunciation and chaplain of KC Council 1819, had served as parochial vicar of St. Charles Borromeo from 2009-12. That parish was his first priestly assignment, and he said the people there were the “salt of the earth” with Cajun accents.

“If you love the people here, they will love you back,” Father Brouillette said.

Once he learned that the St. Charles Borromeo area had been affected by the storm, he quickly mobilized volunteers at Annunciation to help, letting Father Dominic “Mixie” Arcuri, pastor of St. Charles Borromeo Church, know that help was on the way from the knights.

“I just got on the phone and said, ‘I need you,’ and they were there,” Father Brouillette said.

Community gives thanks
The people who came to get food and water just four days after the storm, although battered, were not broken. They had been through storms before and seen the generosity of the people of Louisiana.

Metha Rodrigue Forest, a Norco resident, grew up in St. Charles Borromeo Parish, one of six Rodrigue children, attending the parish school through high school. She stopped by to get hot food for herself and her husband, who recently finished chemotherapy treatments for prostate cancer.

“Our house, by a miracle – everything around me is like a war zone – was not touched,” she said. “We have statues of the Blessed Mother and the Sacred Heart of Jesus in our front yard on platforms but not cemented down, and they could easily have been knocked over, but they did not move in the storm.

“My neighbor’s cedar tree broke in half, but did not hurt our house; it just leaned on it but did no damage. Same with the fence; it leaned on my car, but a friend who checked on us lifted the fence so I could get out. It was truly a miracle that we had not a shingle loose.”

Breaux Bridge parish helps
In addition to food, a group from St. Bernard Church in Breaux Bridge brought 275 gallons of gas from Picard’s Auto Parts, donated by the generosity of parishioners, including owner Larry Picard. The gas could fill 55 5-gallon containers of gas. They hope to return.

“It is a blessing to do this for us,” said Jorge Garcia-Soria said, who with his mother Gabriella Garcia-Soria were in line to get gas for their generators.

During the distribution, Archbishop Gregory Aymond stopped by with Marianite Sister Marjorie Hebert, Catholic Charities president and CEO, and chief operating officer Deacon Martin Gutierrez. The archbishop and Deacon Gutierrez had visited hard-hit LaPlace the day before.

Over the previous two days, Archbishop Aymond said he had heard many stories from River Parish residents who rode out the storm in their homes and were trapped and are still living with a great deal of fear. He recalled the devastation he witnessed in the River Parishes after Hurricane Isaac hit the same area in 2012.

“The River Parishes were very hard hit,” Archbishop Aymond said. “People, I think, are still in shock right now. We knew a hurricane would come but hoped it wouldn’t. Ida not only came but was uninvited and stayed too long. It’s been devastating.

“People right now are counting their blessings, but at the same time, they know what they’ve lost a lot, and it’s very difficult. Counting their blessings doesn’t mean they haven’t been through emotional trauma. I hear people saying God will see them through it. Many have been through this before.”

Working with others
Sister Marjorie said an important thing to stress was how hard archdiocesan agencies were working closely together and with partner organizations to help those devastated by the storm.

“Catholic Charities is working with Second Harvest and The Salvation Army with concrete plans to send a distribution of prepared food and food supplies,” Sister Marjorie said. “We also anticipate deliveries to come in with additional supplies from cross-Catholic and other entities such as clean-up supplies and personal hygiene items.

“We will be setting up distribution centers to send them out in the community. We are trying to identify them on the northshore, east and west banks, inner city and trying to cover all our areas. The Salvation Army has a significant number of canteens in areas that overlap our area. This is just part of the ongoing work we do year-round, but especially at this time.”

Since the storm hit, Catholic Charities has worked hard to take care of its elderly clients with PACE (Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly) that provides medical and social services to low-income elderly residents and has worked closely with Notre Dame Health, the archdiocesan agency for nursing home care and assisted living, to secure post-storm housing for its Padua program residents who have intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Thirty-plus Padua residents were relocated from Belle Chasse to Our Lady of Wisdom in Algiers on Wednesday when there was a generator problem.

“Our strength is in long-term recovery,” Deacon Gutierrez said about Catholic Charities New Orleans. “It’s a shame we have to do it again, but we are always here.”

The road to recovery is long, so Catholic Charities is accepting donations for its ongoing efforts. To help with the Spirit of Hope-Hurricane Ida relief effort, visit https://www.ccano.org/disaster-response-services.

Second Harvest Food Bank was receiving donations of goods, including a $15,000 donation from Maple Street Patisserie.

Annunciation’s Knights of Columbus returned with a crew of 40 on Labor Day, leaving Bogalusa at 5 a.m. to bring nonperishables and cleaning supplies to the River Parishes. The parish of 600 registered families took up a second collection for Hurricane Ida relief, Father Brouillette said, to buy the supplies. The Knights also cooked a meal of red beans and rice, smoked sausage and homemade desserts and fed almost 2,000 people Sept. 6, and there was still a line even when they ran out.

“The people of God are good,” Father Brouillette said.

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