Deswine Intervention Hits the Road
Hurricane Laura Relief Effort
Our Current Mission:
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To bring a slice of Louisiana to those who are suffering from the effects of the devastating hurricane. We do this by cooking and serving great Cajun and NOLA style food made with love and served with kindness in a lighthearted atmosphere. Showing empathy, sharing stories of our own perseverance through the tough times after Katrina. Letting them know that there is light at the end of the tunnel and possibly take their minds off the current situation for a little while.
What We've Done To Date:
We pulled a large toy hauler type of camper from New Orleans to Panama City Beach and setup in a parking lot and cooked and served food. Red beans and rice, gumbo, pasta and red sauce, chicken and rice. Most of these dishes we cooked before leaving New Orleans. The last two dishes we made there. Also, we brought a large grill with a griddle that goes on top where we made well over a thousand chicken and cheese quesadillas.
The camper was loaned to us by a kind soul. The camper, loaded down, weighed over ten thousand pounds. None of us had a truck big enough to pull it. A friend loaned a heavy duty diesel truck for us to pull it back and forth to the area hit by the hurricane.
Our first trip, we went to a church parking lot in Callaway, on the eastern side of Panama City Beach. We cooked for a day and a half at another location on the western side of PCB that was by and large unaffected by the storm. We then relocated to Callaway at the church called High Praise. Callaway, we were told, is one of the poorer sections of PCB. We setup at the church and served for three and a half days. We served thousands of people.
Our last trip was to St Dominic church, which was hit very hard by the storm. The people in that parish have nearly all been affected. They have setup a distribution center there and have a pretty good process for people to drive in and get loaded up with supplies. We were only here for less than two days, but we were still able to server nearly two thousand people.
We are currently planning our third trip to coincide with Thanksgiving break so our children can take part in the experience.
We have received monetary donations to help pay for our cooking supplies and fuel to make the trip. We have also received in kind donations that we deliver to distribution centers in the hardest hit areas.
Deswine Intervention is going to the Florida Pan Handle and Big Bend areas to help feed folks. We're bringing our smokers and cookers and plan on cooking and serving as many meals as possible to those in need.
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Please consider making a donation to help our efforts. If you live in the New Orleans area or on the way to Florida, we are also taking in kind donation of supplies. Top Ten Items To Donate:
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1. Toiletries
2. Diapers
3. NEW Underwear and Socks
4. First Aid Items
5. Cleaning Supplies
6. Canned Goods with Pull Tops
7. NEW Bed Pillows and Blankets
8. Box Fans
9. Utility Knives and Leather Work Gloves
10. Hand Sanitizer