Second Harvest gift to feed locals in need

Recognizing the power of strength in numbers, Second Harvest Food Bank of Greater New Orleans and Acadiana combined forces Thursday with BHP Billiton Petroleum to extend its reach to parishes along the coastline, particularly food banks within Terrebonne Parish.

Second Harvest serves approximately 262,800 people, including 82,000 children and 40,000 seniors, through 235 nonprofit and faith-based agencies across 23 south Louisiana parishes. More than 370,000 meals have been distributed through disaster relief sites and by Second Harvest Food Bank member agencies in the impacted areas since May 1, according to a Second Harvest fact sheet.

“We tried to think about what we were going to do with the threat of oil coming onto our shores and what was going to happen to the jobs of our fishermen that are so critical to our economy here,” Second Harvest CEO Natalie Jayroe said at last week’s food drive.

A semi-trailer containing non-perishable food items to make approximately 27,000 meals sat outside the Vision Christian Center Thursday, waiting to be distributed to six Terrebonne Parish food pantries.

“Once again, this community came together with its resilience and we’re going to survive this as we’ve survived other challenges in the past,” Jayroe said.

The pantries receiving the food included Vision Christian Center, Storm Outreach Community Center, Good Samaritan Food Bank of Terrebonne, Refuge Restoration Outreach, Plymouth Rock Baptist Church and Terrebonne Parish Consolidated Government.

“Normally, we have our food drive around Thanksgiving time,” said Steve Pastor, BHP Billiton Gulf of Mexico production manager. “This year, because of the recognition of the impact along south Louisiana, we contacted Second Harvest of New Orleans and Acadiana and realized that there’s a significant increase in demand created by the oil spill.”

The increase in demand was met by an increase in community outreach as well, according to Pastor.

“What we’ve done is accelerated our food drive and kicked it off in late July,” Pastor said.

BHP Billiton Petroleum’s Food Drive surpassed its original goal of raising more than $100,000 in employee donations, according to a press release.

“We’re really proud of the fact that 80 percent of our employees dug deep into their pockets to make contributions to this food bank. We raised $480,000, and half of that is going to Second Harvest,” the production manager said.

When matched on a one-to-one basis through the BHP Billiton Matched Giving Program, the total amount raised for the Houston Food Bank, including fundraisers, resulted in a gift of $240,000.

“It’s truly my joy to be here today to celebrate an amazing event because we all know the last several months we’ve gone through a period of uncertainty,” Jayroe said. “And if anyone knows about uncertainty, it’s the people of south Louisiana and the people of Terrebonne.”

But out of that uncertainty, Jayroe said, has come an outpouring of generosity.

“It’s just always my privilege to see how people come out to help other people,” she said.

Second Harvest Food Bank serves all coastal Louisiana parishes including Orleans, St. John, St. Charles, Plaquemines, St. Bernard, Terrebonne, Lafourche, Vermilion, St. Tammany, Cameron, Iberia, Jefferson and Tangipahoa parishes.

And since Second Harvest agencies have noticed a 25 percent increase in the number of new clients served in these parishes, and increases in the number of fishermen, hospitality and oil field workers seeking emergency food assistance, Jayroe said Billiton’s $240,000 gift will be put to good use.

“We’re going to make sure every one of these dollars go as far as it possibly can to help people in our community,” she said. “With the partnership that you see here today, I have no doubt that we will rise above all this.”

Terrebonne Parish President Michel Claudet also attended Thursday’s food drive to express his gratitude to both Second Harvest and BHP Billiton for a job well done.

“Thank you for putting money where the impact has been felt, we really appreciate you bringing it to our area,” he said.

Pastor expressed he, along with the rest of BHP Billiton, was proud to be a part of coastal response.

“That truck behind us,” he said, “is one of many that BHP donations are going to fill up. This is a symbol of what good neighbors can do in support of a community. For us, this is a small way of giving back to Louisiana for what Louisiana has given us.”

Volunteers with BHP Billiton Petroleum mill about Thursday as a delivery from Second Harvest Food Bank of Greater New Orleans and Acadiana awaits its next stop: area food banks. JENNA FARMER