"Chefs Cook for Katrina” Fund :
a charity effort by Chef Paul Prudhomme

Chef Paul's Katrina Web Page

Dear Friends of Magic Seasoning Blends and K-Paul’s Louisiana Kitchen -

Every year most of us look back over the past 365 days and reminisce about the good times and the not so good times. 2005 certainly allows us to contemplate both ends of the spectrum. Normally events effect one part of our life and we have the capability of separating our professional life from our personal life. This past year, however, the disasters that occurred impacted all aspects of our lives.

From January through August, we at K-Paul’s Louisiana Kitchen and Magic Seasoning Blends found life to be challenging and rewarding as we continued to expand the businesses. K-Paul’s Louisiana Kitchen was steadily building their clientele list through reservations as well as catering varied themed events and parties and conventions in locations all around the world. Magic Seasoning Blends secured new property with a 120,000 sq. ft. open warehouse, which was being customized to meet all needs. We were scheduled to be totally moved in before the holidays and ready to “rock and roll” with many diverse projects and several new products. Life was good.

Then came Katrina, Rita and Wilma – all within weeks of each other. No one could have imagined the damage nature could do to our lives.

The vivid pictures in the media were accurate but still did not convey the real story. We are living it now. There are so many parts to the story. If you travel from the airport to the Central Business District (CBD) or the French Quarter you probably would not even know that a hurricane had passed through the area – damage was minor in most areas with some exceptions. However, as you travel through areas such as Lakeview, New Orleans East, the Lower Ninth Ward, Chalmette and St. Bernard you see the absolute total devastation of whole suburban communities. No business, home, car, school, church, hospital or library could escape or survive 15-20 feet of water either in a surge or standing still.

Statistics are still sketchy but what we do know is that several hundred thousand people lost their homes, their jobs, and their community. Many of our employees (of all economic levels) were dramatically affected and now have to start to rebuild their lives. Our responsibility in helping them rebuild is to provide them with a job that they can feel secure with and a shoulder to lean on for moral support and material assistance.

Rebuilding will take years of hard work and careful planning by strong leaders of our community. We feel confident that the New Orleans areas can be better – better homes, schools, roads, hospitals, and businesses. So when people around the world ask us if things are “getting back to normal” our answer is quite simple – most of us will never know “normal” as it was – only how we make it to be. There are many stories to be told and there are many that should not be relived. We will sort all of those out in time.

Thank you for your love and concern over these past few months. Forgive us if we have not responded on a timely basis – many times it was just not possible. We truly appreciate your kind donations and gestures of good will. We are still getting many questions about how you may help us and yes we do need your help and we will continue to share the foundation and company contribution information.

K-Paul’s is continuing to cook for the devastated areas where the residents, volunteers, police, firemen, and the remaining military troops are working to clear out and rebuild many parts of the city. To date we have served over 32,000 warm meals! These efforts are funded through “Chefs Cook for Katrina Foundation.”

"Chefs Cook for Katrina” Fund :

“Chefs Cook for Katrina”, a charity effort by Chef Paul Prudhomme, is a fund at Community Foundation of Acadiana, a 501c3 organization under IRS tax codes. All donations are tax deductible. These donations will be used exclusively to help Chef Paul and other chefs who are cooking for first responders, police, firemen, volunteers and the military. The fund provides food, supplies, paper goods, etc. to help in Katrina relief efforts. Checks must be made payable to “Community Foundation of Acadiana” and mailed to:

Community Foundation of Acadiana
Attn: Chefs Cook for Katrina
P. O. Box 3892
Lafayette, LA 70502-3892

For those of you that would like to help our staff directly the information is as follows:

Magic Seasoning Blends and K-Paul’s Louisiana Kitchen Staff

For donations that would directly benefit the Magic Seasoning Blends and K-Paul’s Louisiana Kitchen staff, please designate “Katrina” on your check or money order and make check payable to Magic Seasoning Blends, Inc./Katrina. Please send checks to:

Magic Seasoning Blends, Inc./Katrina
P.O. Box 23342
New Orleans, LA 70183-0342

These donations go directly towards staff members who need assistance with housing, their children’s education, medical expenses, clothing and other needs.