beneficiaries

 

Café Hope
The Louisiana Hospitality Foundation and Sysco teamed up to donate professional cooking equipment totaling $7,000 to Café Hope, a new restaurant program created by the Catholic Charities Archdiocese of New Orleans that trains at-risk youth for a career in the restaurant industry. With a farm-to-table component, Café Hope focuses on providing job readiness training and placement and teaching students gardening skills centered on the importance of fresh produce in a professional kitchen.

 

Fernando Gutierrez
Gutierrez came to New Orleans from Nicaragua and has been a member of the Galatoire’s Restaurant family of employees for 31 years. After suffering extensive injuries in a non-work related accident, Gutierrez was faced with mounting medical expenses and the inability to return to work for a period of time. LHF’s donation will assist Gutierrez with medical expenses related to his injury.

 

Catholic Charities Archdiocese of New Orleans
Catholic Charities operates 48 programs focused on hurricane recovery, food and nutrition, physical and mental health, education, domestic violence and many other issues. This organization was the recipient of several gifts presented by members of LHF during the 2009 holiday season.

 

Chef Duke’s Foundation for Kids
Chef Duke’s Foundation for Kids was established by Chef Duke LoCicero of Café Giovanni to provide monetary support to children in difficult financial and emotional situations. LHF members donated numerous gifts for children to the organization during the 2009 holiday season.

 

 

 

Ray Brandhurst
Brandhurst is a seventh-generation Louisiana shrimper. As a founder of The White Boot Brigade, Brandhurst became the face of the local seafood industry after Hurricane Katrina by promoting the importance of buying wild-caught Louisiana seafood instead of imports. He developed stage-three lung cancer and is undergoing a series of costly medical treatments expected to exceed $100,000 and not covered by insurance. LHF raised $43,000 to assist Brandhurst in his fight against lung cancer.

 

Lorenzo Rodriguez
Rodriguez is a New Orleans native who has been employed in the hospitality industry since he was 16 years old and is presently employed by Emeril’s Restaurant. Due to a tragic auto accident, he has been unable to continue his work in the culinary field. The LHF donation has assisted in paying a portion of Lorenzo’s medical expenses and providing for other related needs.

 

Boy Scouts of America:
Through the 2008 Friends of Scouting Campaign, LHF provided funds to purchase camping equipment that was damaged during Hurricane Katrina. The Boy Scouts provide an educational program for boys and young adults to build character, to train in the responsibilities of participating citizenship and to develop personal fitness.

 

The University of New Orleans, Lester E. Kabacoff School of Hotel Restaurant and Tourism Administration
A generous donation was made to kickoff the fundraising drive, the goal of which was to renovate school’s food laboratory. The school maintains itself as an accredited academic unit of exceptional quality that provides the highest possible level of academic service to the hospitality and tourism constituents in the area of teaching, research, community assistance and economic development.

 

St. Dominic School
Through the donation of the LHF, the school was able to purchase much needed kitchen equipment. This affords their students the opportunity to continue their service to the community. During the school year, the students involved in the S. I. G. N. Club (Service in God’s Name), with the help of their moderator and parents, prepare, cook and deliver food to St. Joseph’s Church.

 

Leah Chase
LHF provided funding, point-of-sale equipment and kitchen equipment that helped this famed New Orleans restaurateur to reopen her beloved Dooky Chase Restaurant after Hurricane Katrina nearly wiped her out.

 

Emeril Lagasse Foundation
The Foundation embraces every opportunity to grant funds to children’s organizations that have a culinary and/or educational component, and to eventually enrich the lives of many young people through the creative art of cooking so that they may look towards a future of creativity, opportunity and hope. Additional info about the organization can be found at www.emeril.org.

 

Café Reconcile
LHF will dontate $5000 to assist the program in its mission of training the New Orleans youth workforce to learn basic life skills, interpersonal skills and work skills in order to successfully enter the second-largest non-governmental workforce in the city—the entertainment and hospitality industry.


Hurricane Relief
Recently, in the wake of Hurricane Gustav's severe damage to Louisiana's lower parishes, the LHF made it a priority to help those most impacted by this catastrophic storm. Distributing and serving food to victims in Montegut and Napoleonville, the LHF demonstrated its commitment to help by providing much needed assistance in the form of hot meals. 

Board of Directors