To raise funds to help victims of Hurricane Katrina, School of Hospitality faculty and staff have organized a sale of "Gumbo for a Cause."
This week, the school will take pre-orders of Louisiana-style chicken, sausage, shrimp and oyster gumbo served in one-quart containers and accompanied by one pint of steamed rice.
Price is $15 per quart. Proceeds will be donated to the American Red Cross's response to Hurricane Katrina.
Pre-orders are encouraged during the week of Sept. 12-16. You may place your order by sending an e-mail or by calling the School of Hospitality at 327-4505. Pickup of orders will take place Monday, Sept. 19, in the LEC lobby side of Le Jeune Chef Restaurant. School of Hospitality students and faculty will prepare the gumbo. Scot's Lo-Cost market in Montoursville has donated materials for the event, and other donations are being sought.
Faculty in the School of Hospitality have culinary connections with the area. Famed restaurateur Chef John Folse has been a five-time distinguished visiting chef at the college, most recently in April, and Leah Chase, owner of Dooky Chase's in New Orleans, has come to Penn College twice as part of the School of Hospitality's Distinguished Visiting Chef Series.
Initially unsure of the 82-year-old Chase's fate, the school last week received an electronic version of a newspaper article in the Birmingham (Ala.) Post-Herald that describes Chase cooking jambalaya and other delicacies for the two dozen family members she has joined in the home of relatives in Birmingham.