Local business owner gives away thousands of snowballs to provide the community a break from the heat

Brooke Carrere, owner of Brooke’s Sno-World and resident of the Grand Caillou area, returned home the Wednesday night following the storm to find her community devastated by Ida’s wrath and left with scarce resources.

“It was so much damage, my daughter started crying,” she remembered. “We didn’t have anything cold, and there was no food and no drinks.” 

Fortunately, when evacuating to Florida, Carrere brought her company’s two mobile facilities with her, and she had ice stored. So, she decided to open up shop. But instead of charging folks in need, she opted to hand out snowballs for free. “I saw how many people wanted a snowball. They were thirsty; they were hot,” she said. “I felt like all these people support me throughout the year, and at a time right now is when they need us the most, we have to come through for them.” 

Carrere and a small group of employees served snowballs at her location on West Main Street in Houma the Thursday after the storm, preparing over a thousand of them for free. Then, word quickly spread, and the local business owner received countless requests for the Brooke’s Sno-World mobile trailer to make stops in different areas throughout Terrebonne and Lafourche. Since that Thursday, the mobile unit has visited law enforcement agencies, health clinics and grocery and retail stores, among other places, offering cool treats to lineworkers, police officers, health care workers and other community members. 

On Sunday, Carrere said Brooke’s had provided almost 14,000 free snowballs, with a goal to hit 20,000. “Everybody is working hard, but they actually are enjoying themselves. We get to still communicate with people; we’re not locked up. It feels good to be out here,” she said. “To see the smiles on their faces is priceless.” 

The Grand Caillou native said she’s seen the community unite in Ida’s wake. Brooke’s has partnered with various organizations to host snowball, hot meal and supply distributions and was donated free blocks of ice from Slo-Melt Ice. Carrere also highlighted that southern states are coming together too, noting a Lowe’s in Panama City that donated 80 cases of water for her to bring back home for those in need. “Everybody is working together as a team. I find that everybody’s coming together: all the differences that they had going on before, I think that’s out of the window,” she said.

Alongside Carrere in providing relief has been her 17-year-old daughter Alexis. Carrere shared that it’s been an eye-opening experience for her daughter — being in “survival mode” and learning what it means to help people.  “It made her realize what it’s like to actually be needed and give people the resources that we need at this time…I told her, ‘We have this trailer; we have to open. This is what we can do for our people.'”

Photos submitted.