Bunkhouse Shelter to offer needy holiday meal

Blooming Orchid Florist has teamed with Bunkhouse Shelter to fill the stomachs of Terrebonne Parish’s less fortunate on Thanksgiving Day.

The Thanksgiving Day meal at the Bunkhouse Shelter, located at 8424 Main St. in Houma, will be served at 11 a.m. Thursday and is free to the public.

For the past seven years during the holidays, Angela Adams, owner of Blooming Orchid Florist in Houma, has been preparing meals at her home for the homeless. “This task could be overwhelming if you had to do it alone,” she said.

The Blooming Orchid Florist gang has prepared the Thanksgiving Day, New Year’s Day and Easter meal for the Bunkhouse. Adams and her employees not only cook the meals, but they foot the cost to prepare those meals.

Adams gives thanks to her family and employees because she said it wouldn’t be possible without them. She said her workers give their time helping out the people who need it the most.

Adams divides the cooking duties among her family and her employees’ families. Once the food is prepared, it is transported to the shelter, on the particular holiday while it’s still hot.

“I feel that it is important for the food to be served hot. We don’t have to worry about heating anything up,” she said.

“As of right now, there isn’t a sponsor for the Christmas dinner. We always hope that some organization or business would come along and take over the meal. So far, they have not,” she said.

“If no one steps up, then we will prepare that meal also. The people at Bunkhouse need a meal and we are going to give it to them,” she confirmed.

Adams said they usually prepare enough food for more than 100 people. “You actually see where your money goes. You get to drop the food off to the people waiting to eat,” she said. “I don’t really care who the people are or where they came from because I feel everyone deserves a meal n especially during the holidays.”

Adams said her initial involvement cooking the holiday meals at Bunkhouse Shelter, which is owned by Bobby O’Bryan and his wife, began when she wanted to do something in honor of her deceased father.

“My father was a very giving man. He loved helping out the people in the community,” she said.

Adams said she read an article in a local newspaper noting Mary LeBoeuf, a local library employee, was seeking donations for the Bunkhouse Shelter.

“I called Mary and asked her what can I do to help. Then, I called Bobby and asked him what did he need for me to do as a small business owner in the community,” she said.

Previously, no one was sponsoring a meal during the holidays, so she took the opportunity to start it. Outside of the holiday meals, the local florist also took on preparing Tuesday meals for the month of November.

“Every Tuesday, someone prepares a meal for the people at the shelter. When I was talking to Bobby he said no one was scheduled for the last three Tuesdays in this month [November],” Adams said. “I said I got it covered.”