St. Tammany News

Local professional golfer Kelly Gibson demonstrated his continuing effort to help out first responders after Hurricane Katrina with a large donation to Slidell police officers and firefighters Wednesday afternoon.

At a ceremony in Slidell Mayor Ben Morris' office, the Feed the Relief charity, run by Gibson, and the Fore Kids Foundation donated a total of $40,200 to the Slidell Police Department, the St. Tammany Fire District No. 1, the Slidell Boys and Girls Club, Salmen High School and the Slidell Department of Parks and Recreation.

St. Tammany Fire District No. 1 Chief Larry Hess, center, accepts a check for $10,000 from professional golfer, Kelly Gibson, and his wife, Elizabeth, who run the Feed the Relief charity. (Staff Photo by Erik Sanzenbach)

The Fore Kids Foundation raises money by organizing golf tournaments with members of the Professional Golfers' Association. In New Orleans, the Fore Kids puts on the Zurich Classic and is a major stop on the PGA tour.

Feed the Relief was started by Gibson and his wife Elizabeth right after Hurricane Katrina devastated the area. Using the help of PGA caterers and a local chef, the Gibsons were able to provide more than 50,000 meals to first responders who were saving lives and trying to clean up New Orleans after the hurricane devastated the city.

Elizabeth Gibson said that first responders were their first choice for their largesse, especially the U.S. Coast Guard, who was rescuing people from the floodwaters in New Orleans.

"We wanted to show them how much we appreciate what they do," she said. "These guys were only eating once a day and sharing their rations with the people they were rescuing. "

With the help of PGA caterers, who sent down supplies and food, and chef Horst Pfiefer of the Bella Luna Restaurant, who donated his kitchen and catering space, the Feed the Relief charity started making meals for the first responders on Sept. 3, 2005, and didn't stop until after Thanksgiving.

The Gibsons continued to raise funds and now want to share the money with first responders around the area.

As a result, the Slidell Police Department and the St. Tammany Fire District No.1 each got $10,000.

Police Chief Freddy Drennan said the money would go to buying enough Tasers for each police officer on the force.

Tasers are defensive weapons that stun suspects with electricity in the hope of not causing permanent damage or death.

"Having these non-lethal tools will help our officers," said Drennan as he accepted the check from the Gibsons.

Fire District No. 1 Chief Larry Hess said his department would use the money to improve emergency medical services.

"We would like to have at least one person who is trained in advanced life support on each engine," Hess said.

To do that will require training and more equipment, said Chief Russell Shoultz, who is in charge of emergency medical services for the fire district. Shoultz, who is a licensed paramedic and nurse, said that he not only wants to train more firefighters to be paramedics, but wants to use the money to buy necessary equipment like fluid infusion kits, which will help to put medicines and fluids into patients.

Fore Kids and former Slidell resident Pat Mahoney organized a charity golf tournament in Nyack, N.Y., raising $62,000 for local relief charities in the area. Three Slidell organizations will share $20,200 of that for various uses.

Salmen High School will use its share to buy a large lawn mower from Pinecrest Golf Club to keep their football and soccer fields in shape.

"This really makes our day," said Salmen High School Athletic Director Michael Leland.

The Boys and Girls Club of Slidell also received money, which will be used to replace books and computers ruined by the floodwaters of Katrina.

The Slidell Department of Parks and Recreation will use its share to rebuild the playground equipment in Heritage Park that was destroyed by the storm.

Even though he lived in New York, Mahoney said he knew he had to do something to help his adopted hometown of Slidell when Katrina hit.

"I couldn't sit in New York and do nothing," Mahoney said.

He said he, his friends and Fore Kids were able to get 12 professional golfers together to play in a pro-am tournament to raise money.

"We saw what had happened in Slidell, and knew we had to help," Mahoney said.

James Lights, the PGA pro at Pinecrest Golf Club was at the tournament and said that after showing people pictures of the destruction caused by Katrina, the charity was able to raise $35,000 in an hour. In all, the tournament raised $55,000.

Gibson said that Feed the Relief would continue to raise money for those affected by Katrina. He said that he wants to give first responders more equipment and resources like bulletproof vests.

"We're going to keep going with this so the first responders have a reserve to help them out the next time we have to do this," said Gibson.

Morris handed out plaques of appreciation to the two foundations, and emphasized how charitable organizations had played an important part in getting Slidell back on its feet.

"If it hadn't been for people like you, we would still be stuck in the mud," Morris said.