Fundraiser offers a taste of New Orleans

It's a long way to New Orleans from Sisters, but Sisters resident Kim Barry plans to bring a taste of Louisiana to town Sunday, May 30. It's part of a fundraiser for a local group working with the relief agency Samaritan's Purse to continue the rebuilding efforts in the hurricane-ravaged state.

From 1 to 4 p.m. in front of Sisters Coffee Company, customers can try a choice of chicken or shrimp jambalaya or chicken gumbo, along with cornbread, coleslaw and beignets (french donuts) for a suggested donation of $10.

Money raised will help support a team from Sisters who will join work crews under Samaritan's Purse's banner to do whatever is assigned to them, including remodeling and building homes in the hardest-hit areas of New Orleans that are still in disarray five years after Hurricane Katrina.

"The Gulf Coast still needs help. The recovery is slow because the magnitude of the damage is more than most people can imagine," said Kim Barry. "Now with the oil leak situation in the gulf, the people there need our help and encouragement more than ever."

Barry and her husband Ron have traveled to New Orleans twice since 2005 and have had a desire to go back for some time. Woody Woodsum, formerly of Sisters, has been working in New Orleans for most of the past year and has continued to encourage local teams to join him in the rebuilding work.

Kim jumped at the chance to go back and is overjoyed to be able to take a team of workers with her. Former Sisters residents Bill and Carol Doyle are now living in the area and plan to join up with their friends in the effort, along with a number of other Sisters-area folks including a number of teenagers and Trevor Barry, Noah Kanzig, Daniel Faludi and Mason Morgan. John Weaver, Vince Faludi and Mary Allison Meyer are other adults planning to make the trip.

The trip is planned for June 14-19. For more information contact Kim Barry at 541-549-2934 or [email protected]