On the outside it may look like an ordinary tractor trailer, but inside, it’s much more. Operation Blessing’s new mobile kitchen rolled into Slidell, Louisiana, last week and within days was serving up thousands of hot meals to Hurricane Katrina victims.

The unique unit houses fully-functioning grills, ovens, refrigerators and other essential cooking equipment and supplies in a strategically-designed compact space. Its first day of operation, OBI’s kitchen supplied more than 3,600 residents with a piping hot meal, and chef Gary LeBlanc believes that at full capacity, the kitchen could churn out up to 15,000 meals a day.

Slidell residents are grateful for the service. With little media attention given to the area, this hard-hit town on the eastern shore of Lake Pontchartrain was receiving little assistance before Operation Blessing arrived.

Terry, a Slidell native, was driving by with her daughter-in-law and stopped immediately when she saw Operation Blessing’s kitchen was open. Like thousands of other hurricane victims, these women hadn’t eaten a hot meal since the storm.

“There are so many people here like me that lost everything, and after going through all that you have things like this with people here just to help us and support us. It feels really good,” Terry said.

Along with hot meals, Operation Blessing has turned the mobile kitchen site into nothing less than a full-service relief area – stocking cars with ice, water and other essential supplies as residents wait in line for meals, available three times a day.

Hurricane victims like Brenda who are spending long, hot days working to clean up and repair their property are grateful for OBI’s multifaceted provision.

“Everyone’s been so good to us here and it’s helping us so much. Thank you guys so much for doing this,” she said.

HOW YOU CAN HELP
You can help by making an online donation toward OBI's disaster relief efforts. With your support, we can continue to provide emergency relief and recovery. Please make an on-line donation today.

 

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