FEATURES
Reality Check
by Anitra D. Brown
A Saintly Effort
by Keli Fulton
Big Shirley's Story
by Fallon Jai
Oh Baby: New Orleans Baby Doll Tradition Thrives
by Theresa Crushshon
Ben Franklin High School Performs Worse as a Charter School
by Dr. Barbara FergusonColumns & Departments
Letter to the Editor
Hello All
I would like to again thank every one of you for making the first phase of our community initiative “Steppin Out For Ourselves” a huge success. The comments and responses from the community have been extremely positive which give us an opportunity to continue our community work with welcoming arms.
Attached please see the latest HIV/AIDS statistics from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Please pay close attention to the sixth bullet. Shocking… Louisiana is the only state with two major cities mentioned.
The impact that HIV/AIDS has on the community should give us good reasons and just cause to continue the work we have begun to do in our community through our Steppin Out HIV/AIDS education and prevention community initiative. We must continue to act as responsible leaders in a community were HIV/AIDS education, prevention and services are very limited.
I look forward to our continued work together. Please feel free to contact me at anytime.
Thanks,Michael Hickerson, MSW RSW
Executive Director
In This TogetherAn Open Letter to The City of New Orleans
On behalf of Winn-Dixie, I would sincerely like to thank you for allowing us to be your neighborhood grocer since 1956. We have faced many challenges through the years, both as a company and as a community. But, in the end, those challenges have served to bring us closer and make us stronger than ever before.
Never has that been more evident than in the last few years, as we joined forces to rebuild our city in the devastating wake of Hurricane Katrina. That terrible tragedy taught us that it takes more than a hurricane to break our spirit.
In the earliest days after the storm, many people said that this may be the end of New Orleans. But, Peter Lynch, our chairman of the board, CEO, and president, stood amidst the wreckage and made a powerful commitment to the recovery of our great city. He promised that we would stay and rebuild as the population grew.
We began fulfilling that promise almost immediately as we reopened our least-damaged stores as quickly as possible. Then, we went on to rebuild and reopen our Gentilly, Chalmette and New Orleans East stores that had been completely destroyed.
Each time, you welcomed us back with open arms, and often, tears of joy. Today, we continue to keep our promise to support the communities of New Orleans as our neighbors return.
In fact, nearly four years later, we are more committed than ever to being your partners in recovery and giving back to the communities that have given us so much.
Each year, our Grass Roots and Youth at Play programs provide us the means to sponsor many neighborhood events and youth sports teams through our stores; the Winn-Dixie Foundation donates over $100,000 to worthy organizations helping women and children, health, education and hunger; and, through Community Pals, we are able to distribute $1 million annually to 800 local, non-profit schools and churches of your choosing.
Relationships are also a very important way for us to give back. Our strong relationships with local vendors and suppliers allow us to keep a lot of our business at home in New Orleans and to provide fresh and local products in our stores.
And we are very proud to employ more than 4,000 dedicated associates just in the 35 metro-New Orleans Winn-Dixies alone. Many of them have been with us for 30, 40 and even 50 years, which is a wonderful statement for any company to be able to make.
At the end of the day, none of this would be possible without your support and loyalty. We are honored to have served you for the past 53 years and we look forward to serving you and your families for years to come.Sincerely,
Joey Medina
Winn-Dixie Regional Vice President
New Orleans Region
