Paying it Forward: New Orleans Style

Just before NCVS kicked off, Mayor Mitch Landrieu joined conference officials to “send-off” a team of locals to Joplin, Mo.

Led by Greg Reggio and the Taste Buds, a local culinary company, and under the heading of “Three Chefs: One Mission,” the group set off to aid the victims of the devastating tornado that took the lives of 138 people and destroyed almost 40 percent of the city.

Among the conference officials joining Mayor Landrieu were Michelle Nunn, CEO of Points of Light Institute, and director of AmeriCorps John Gomperts.

The contingent, including a caravan of refrigerated trucks, trailers, cooking equipment, tents, generators, buses and a music stage, left from the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center in New Orleans and provided more than 1,000 people with fresh Louisiana seafood.

“These New Orleanians are true champions of service,” said Mayor Landrieu. “We know what the good people of Joplin are facing; we’ve been where they are.”

The team, including restaurant partners from the Louisiana Seafood Promotion and Marketing Board, musician Amanda Shaw and volunteers, left for Joplin in the spirit of Paying it Forward.