11/14/2026
Today, I cried over pumpkin pie filling. ❤️
When Bechtel Corporation with the Louisiana LNG project called and asked if their employees could collect holiday food for our pantry at Care Help of Sulphur, I said, “Absolutely!” I had no idea what was coming.
We serve more than 500 households a month now. In a typical month, we spend about $20,000 on food, plus another $6,500 on fresh fruits and vegetables. In December, our regular food purchases double before we even buy the hams and turkeys.
When I placed our holiday order, I wanted every family to take home enough food to cook a complete Christmas meal. I counted out what we could afford so each family would have at least a box of stuffing mix, cornbread, a can of yams, and two cans of cream soup, instant potatoes, Mac n cheese, to go with their ham or turkey. By the time I got to dessert, I was looking for the most affordable cookie mix I could find. I wanted every family to have something sweet on the table, too.
Then Bechtel showed up with more than 5,000 pounds of food. There were boxes of stuffing mix, cases of corn, green beans and mustard greens, gravy mix, mac and cheese, cans of cream soup, and so much more.
And then I spotted the cans of pumpkin pie filling. That’s when it hit me. We could stop pinching pennies over every box and every can. Our families would have enough to cook a full Christmas spread right in their own kitchens, pie and all. And I cried.
To every Bechtel employee who organized the drive, donated food, packed a box, or helped deliver it to our pantry, thank you. I hope when you sit down to your own Christmas dinner, you’ll think of the families sitting down to theirs because you helped put food on the table.
Hunger doesn’t take a Holiday.
From all of us at Care Help of Sulphur, thank you, Bechtel. God bless each of you. ❤️
