Katrina: A Look Back

August 29, 2015 marks the 10th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. While the unimaginable damage will remain a haunting memory of our dear city, it is important we remember the many stories of resilience and human kindness.

On that fateful Monday, our Elmwood facility was left in darkness after losing multiple windows and part of the roof. Through no small miracle, we were back with power in only 5 days. After receiving clearance from the state and federal health authorities, we began to do what we do best. We cooked. 

Teaming up with the national organization Chef Relief, we transformed the first floor of the facility into an auxiliary kitchen and provided meals for police, members of the military and people at shelters. Our facility was used to house volunteer chefs from all over the country. 

For weeks, Chef Pierre Hilzim, President of Kajun Kettle Foods, would wake up at 3 A.M. to make sure the National Guard was fed by the time they rose at 5 A.M. Chef Pierre would end his days grilling steaks by gas burner with his crew and close friends. They kept themselves entertained by watching movies on a small television. 

Ingredients were donated by the truckful. Tom Ryan and the generous staff at Quiznos Corporate donated enough food and supplies to open our own Quiznos we they felt so inclined. 

In order to house our returning staff, Pierre requested trailers from the State Authorities. They complied, dropping ten of them behind the factory itself. After water and electric were hooked up, they were inhabited and given names like "Crawfish Monica Mansion" and "Pepper Jelly Palace." It was appropriate that the food that was a livelihood also helped give a semblance of shelter to their own work-family, brave veterans of the storm. 

Kajun Kettle produced 60,000 meals per week for 6 weeks, delivering around 360,000 free meals.

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