St. Michael's Special School & Emeril Luncheon
Zurich Classic of New Orleans
By: Julie Petrovic

On April 21st, during the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, twenty-three members of the PGA TOUR Wives Association came together for a special event that involved crafts with the kids from St. Michael’s Special School, a presentation to the St. Bernard Project, and a fabulous cooking demonstration by Chef Emeril Lagasse. To start things off, a busload of excited children arrived from St. Michael’s to work with the PTWA members on a special craft. Our members helped these truly special children make mobiles of houses decorated with brightly colored stickers. Details were drawn with markers and pretty ribbons were attached to hang the mobiles. The children were very proud of their handy work. Three of the kids joined me on stage to present these beautiful mobiles to Liz McCartney from the St. Bernard Project. When a family displaced by Katrina moves into a rebuilt home through the St. Bernard Project, they will be presented one of these mobiles made by a special child from St. Michael’s.

Emeril joined me on stage to present checks from the PTWA to both St. Michael’s and the St. Bernard Project. We were then treated to Emeril's cooking demo, which featured sweet pea soup, pan roasted asparagus with shitake mushrooms and cherry tomatoes, broiled salmon with a warm tomato-lemon vinaigrette and Ponchatoula strawberry cornmeal shortcakes. Yum! Emeril does this special cooking demonstration at the Zurich Classic to benefit St. Michael’s, as Zurich also sponsors the school.

After lunch, Liz McCartney gave a presentation on the St. Bernard Project. St. Bernard's was started in the wake of the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina. Liz McCartney and Zach Rosenburg started the non-profit to help people rebuild and come back home. They use volunteer work and donations to buy products. They are able to rebuild a home for an average of $12,000. Each homeowner has to apply and then put in "sweat equity" to be allowed to get a home. Liz told us that they have built 276 homes in the last four years and are currently working on 50 more. They have also opened a mental health center for their clients, as many of them are dealing with post traumatic stress syndrome, among other issues.

For more information about the St. Bernard project, please visit their website at www.stbernardproject.org. Emeril is also very involved in giving back to the community.  For more information about his foundation, you can visit www.emeril.org.