Ray Reggie’s Favorite Charity

Just came across this article from 2008 about the Just The Right Attitude Food Bank.  It is one of my favorites so I thought I would share it.  Here is an excerpt from the article that is available in the Nola.com’s archives…

Woman’s bad times help others

Thursday, September 25, 2008

Sheila Stroup

Just the Right Attitude is more than a food bank in eastern New Orleans.

“Debra South gives out everything from hot meals to hugs,” Ray Reggie said. “She has a personal rapport with everyone. She understands what it means to need help.”

Ray Reggie (now Chairman of the Board of JTRA), managing partner with Premier Promotions, serves on the board of Just the Right Attitude along with Troy Duhon, president of Premier Automotive Group.

In 2002, when the men heard about the little food pantry Debra was operating out of her garage, they decided to offer her a space on the second floor of a car dealership. And Just the Right Attitude began to grow.

“We love her cause,” Ray Reggie said. “Everybody wanted to help.”

— Growing out of need —

The idea for the community resource began a decade ago with a trip Debra made to the food stamp office. She was a mother in her 30s fighting ovarian and thyroid cancer, and she’d had to retire from her accounting job. Her first husband had taken off, and she was surviving on disability checks and help from family and friends.

She didn’t make enough money to feed her son and daughter, but she was rudely told she made too much to qualify for food stamps.

“I felt so humiliated,” she said.

She promised God that if she got better she would find a way to help people who were hungry and struggling.

From that promise, and a few shelves of canned goods, grew a United Way agency that doles out hope and 2.5 million pounds of food a year.

When Ray Reggie asked a man what he’d do without Debra’s food bank, he answered, “I would be hungry.”

— Place to get a hand —

In April, Just the Right Attitude, with the help of Ray Reggie, moved into two buildings next to Toyota of New Orleans on the I-10 Service Road. And since then, Debra has been giving out lots of hot meals, boxes of staples and hugs….

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I think it is good to remind myself why the work I do with JTRA is so important and this does. Have a Blessed day.

–Ray Reggie–

Ray Reggie’s Hoping for the Superbowl

Hosting the 2013 Super Bowl in New Orleans could be the answer to New Orleans prayers.  Before Hurricane Katrina in 2005, New Orleans was the host for Super Bowl nine times and was considered one of the top spots for the event.  Unfortunately, there was a large amount of damage done to the   the Superdome and it needed a new roof and underwent renovations to the interior, including rebuilt suites, club lounges and new scoreboards.  The Superdome reopened for the 2006 season but if the lease with the Saints is extended, even more renovations will be made.  Imagine what hosting the 2013 Super Bowl could do for the New Orleans economy and maybe it will bring a little fun into the citizens of New Orleans, many of which are still trying to rebuild their homes and their lives.

–Ray Reggie–

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Ray Reggie on New Orleans

Ray Reggie shares his thoughts about New Orleans before and after Hurricane Katrina with us –

RRW:  Describe New Orleans before Hurricane Katrina?

Ray Reggie:  New Orleans, a big small town, filled with great food and a deep bed of all type of music.  A city that was utilizing its port as an economic engine and a hub for conventions.
RRW: And shortly after Katrina hit?

Ray Reggie:  Stagnant.

Progress and leadership have both lacked since Katrina  The increase in crime and the loss of so many establish restaurants and so many of our musicians has left New Orleans with a void.

RRW: What about now?  How would you describe New Orleans now?

Ray Reggie:  Now, I see in New Orleans, a city that is crime filled. One that has a deep root caring population that is depressed from the lack of leadership.  Here we are almost 4 years after Katrina and you can’t go a day without making a reference to Pre-Katrina or Katrina in general.

RRW: What can a citizen of New Orleans do to make a difference?

Ray Reggie:  We need to get Richard Pennington, our former police chief back from Atlanta and give him the tools to rid the drug element out of the city.  Chief Pennington was one of the best Police Chiefs we ever had.  He took a detailed approach to crime reporting and had more “street crimes” active, stopping and questioning people.  We are too reactive – we need a pro-active police force to rid the element and get crime of the front page.  The citizens of New Orleans need to make their voices heard by writing letters to this effect and possibly petitioning to get back what we feel we need to make our city right again.

RRW: What needs to happen to bring New Orleans back to the city that it once was?

Ray Reggie:   The major issues are:

Crime – we need to get a handle on the killings… now.

Education – we are paying $15,000+ per student to educate students in our public schools when the catholic school system offered to do it for $2,500 per student.  The LEAP scores and graduation levels in the Catholic schools is significantly better than the Orleans Parish School System .  We won’t be able to recruit good companies to relocate or open in New Orleans if the crime if out of control and the school system is horrible.

The real answer is leadership and accountability.  We need a sunshine accounting of government spending.  Put the checkbook on line!  Let’s see who is getting paid out of our city coffers.  It’s our money!

We need to utilize the reserved bond money and FEMA dollars to repair our infrastructure. The roads are horrible.

We need to increase the Police force to 1,800 officers and give them the tools needed to do their job.  It’s sad that some police districts were still in FEMA trailers until a few months ago!  Our priorities are out of line….

We need an honest, smart Mayor, one that is concerned with rebuilding a city and not lining his/her pockets with money or worried about re-election.  We need leadership and full disclosure to regain trust and we need it now.

2009 Predicted to be Mild

Hopefully, the predictions are correct.  This country could use a break.  People are tired right now.  Between crime, the economy and various other factors, it has been a rough few years.  We are still regrouping and a mild hurricane season gives people all over the country just a little more time to make some more progress.  This article questions if FEMA and the Powers That Be are ready for another hurricane season.  I think the real question is if anybody is ready for it.  Can anybody or any organization be ready for the unknown?  You can prepare as much as possible but you can’t be ready.

–Ray Reggie–