"OUR STORY"

Let me tell you a story of "Our Team" The Pink Team of Assumption.  In the spring of 2001 I received a call from ALSAC of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis that would change my life and that of many of my family, friends and the people of our area forever.  The call was from a volunteer from St. Jude asking if I would chair a Bike-A-Thon in our small village of Paincourtville, Louisiana, which has a population of less than 1,000.  I said that I would think about it and would she call me back in a week or so.  She said that she would and exactly one week later, she did call back.  I hesitantly agreed.

 At that time, Courtney Banta, a young girl from Paincourtville, had been in treatment at St. Jude for neuroblastoma.  I went to see her parents and asked to do an "honor ride" for Courtney.  They said she would be thrilled as she loved St. Jude so much.

 Next, who would help?  That part was easy.  I called several friends who are always involved in community activities and they agreed to help.  We were on our way to what we thought would be a one time event.

 A few weeks later, Courtney was out of remission and in early June of 2001 she passed away.  We were devastated and immediately thought of canceling the "Bike-A-Thon."  Her parents insisted that she would want the ride to go on as planned.  It now became a memorial ride, "The Courtney Banta Memorial Bike-A-Thon."  Our first ride was in September 2001 on a rainy miserable morning.  We watched as some determined riders unloaded and not only took off, but completed the ride.  Our first check to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital was for $7,500 and the rest is history.  In 2005, just two weeks after Hurricane Katrina, after receiving such devastating loses and in the most trying of circumstances, our fund-raising efforts generated over $46,000.  Our event continues to grow bigger and better each year.

 It has been said that a butterfly flapping its wings in Tahiti can in theory produce a tornado in Kansas.  It all has to do with mathematics.  The Pink Team of Assumption, a grass roots fund raising organization for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, has adopted this theory.  We are all about mathematics; raising money for St. Jude.  Our team is flapping its butterfly wings in Assumption Parish and expecting to produce a windfall in Memphis, Tennessee.  We have adopted a team song, "Angels Among Us," have team colors, pink and purple (Courtney's favorites), a team flag, team shirt, and our "mascot is the butterfly.  We are about a united effort to raise money for the hospital.  Our dream is someday to raise a million dollars in order to pay the cost of running the hospital for one day.  Sure it's a dream, but we all have dreams.

 Our team started in Paincourtville with twelve members and each year more and more people have joined our fund-raising efforts.  We now have more than one hundred members, plus 4-H clubs throughout the parish which have given us so much support in so many events.  Our entire parish has a population of less than 25,000 scattered over 16,000 square miles.  Our members are found in the many small communities throughout that area and up and down Bayou Lafourche, a body of water that runs from the Mississippi River to the mouth of the Gulf of Mexico.

 This cookbook represents the cooking and lifestyle of the people of Assumption Parish and South Louisiana.  It is a collection of "secret" recipes and stories from family and friends shared with love and affection in the hope that all who read it and try the recipes will come to know the people and the culture of our area as well as the effort that has been put into helping these children.  We hope that you enjoy this book and the recipes as much as we have enjoyed putting it together.

 There are so many people to thank for our great success that it cannot possibly be done here without the risk of leaving someone out.  No one person said "no" when asked to give or help.  Our people are kind and generous and it is only through "team effort" that ordinary people are able to achieve extraordinary things.

 From "The Pink Team of Assumption," thank you from the bottom of our hearts for a "Wonderful Ride."

Glenda Daigle

Coordinator