Quick Meal? No Problem for Rotary Club of New Orleans Riverbend!

It was during our regular club meeting on June 21 that past president and club membership chair CJ Jumonville received an urgent text from Ed Marshall: "Can your club provide jambalaya for 200 people on Thursday?"

 

That Marshall, senior vice president of First National Bank, would reach out to the Rotary Club of New Orleans Riverbend was no surprise; he's attended several club meetings and also featured club members on his monthly talk show on WLAE.

 

Marshall was communicating on behalf of the Louisiana Childrens' Museum, which was hosting a pre-kindergarten student summit at Joe Brown Park in eastern New Orleans.  The eastern New Orleans community, which remains underserved even more than 10 years post Katrina, does benefit from a major summer camp at Joe Brown Park, a NORD facility on Read Blvd.  The event would provider campers and their families about opportunities for student enrichment and assistance during the pivotal transition year to primary education; the camp served more than 100 families in the east New Orleans community.

 

The spontaneous decision to assist such an important event was no surprise to anyone who has been around Riverbend; the nimbleness and ability of our club to respond to extraordinary requests is a hallmark of its service.

 

In the end, CJ Jumonville, Anna Simpson, Yoko Toda and Bob Vaughn each cooked two large trays of jambalaya - enough for 200!  They were delivered to Joe Brown Park by Jason Sanchez, who then provided service along with Rotaract at Tulane President Jessica Conrad and Rotaract member Bryan Laird.  In addition to the jambalaya, the Louisiana Children's Museum provided apples or oranges, water, and eventually a sheet cake at the end for the campers and their families.

 

The good food was enjoyed by many young and old alike, but there were still two trays left over, and half a crate of fresh fruit, that was gratefully received by the Ozanam Inn Homeless Shelter on Camp St.

 

It was just another week for the Rotary Club of New Orleans Riverbend - but a few hundred people in the city all said, "Wow, that's delicious!  Can I have some more?"  When the call comes, we'll be ready.