We’re thrilled to celebrate our 100th anniversary in 2023, and we’re commemorating this milestone by giving back to the community that has sustained us. Through a partnership with Second Harvest Food Bank, we’re helping the ongoing effort to end food insecurity in New Orleans and ensure that all of our neighbors have the food they need.
On January 9th, we began a year-long partnership with Second Harvest Food Bank, and over the course of our centennial year, we’ll donate beans for one million meals.
“We are a company that began with one of my great grandfathers, a self-made businessman. His early life would not be characterized by riches; he began selling beans from a cart in the French Market, so understanding what it takes to survive is something we are reminded of within each generation of Haywards,” said Vince Hayward, CEO, L.H. Hayward and Company, parent company of Camellia beans.
From taking care of our neighbors as part of hurricane relief efforts, to COVID-19 pandemic efforts aimed at feeding healthcare workers and our city’s culture bearers, our ongoing desire to ensure adequate food resources is deeply embedded in our cultural values.
Camellia regularly lends its support to food distribution programs, community kitchen meal services, nutrition education, shelters, food banks, schools, and public benefits – ensuring families have a meal on their dining table at all times.
Stay tuned as we announce more partnerships in the coming months!
Vince Hayward, left, CEO of L.H. Hayward & Company, Gov. John Bel Edwards and Robbie Trahan, co-owner of Crowley’s Falcon Rice Mill and producer of Cajun Country Rice. The ‘Red Beans & Rice Mondays’ campaign benefitted the Greater Baton Rouge Food Bank and Second Harvest Food Bank, helping provide 50,000 meals in the Fall of 2022.
In March 2023, Camellia partnered with Councilmember Freddie King III of District C — coming together just like Red Beans and Rice — to honor New Orleans culinary culture with “Red Beans Month”. The goal was to share the tradition of Red Beans and Rice and its significance with the next generation of New Orleanians, through an initiative with charter schools and InspireNOLA schools.
The following schools joined us in the initiative: Alice M. Harte Charter School, Dorothy Height Charter School, Dwight D. Eisenhower Charter School, Frederick A. Douglas High School, Harriet Tubman Charter School, KIPP Leadership, L.B. Landry High School, and New Orleans Military and Maritime Academy.
We shared an 8-minute documentary short film on the history of Louis Armstrong’s favored dish and provided a free and nutritious meal of Red Beans and Rice to students and faculty on Mondays, March 6th, 13th, 20th, and 27th. The film presents insightful interviews with historians, authors, journalists, filmmakers, and respected tastemakers of the city, including Dr. Jessica Harris, Poppy Tooker, Stella Chase, Lolis Elie, Vance Vaucresson, and Rien Fertel. It was a joy and a pleasure to share our love of red beans and rice with amazing children from our local NOLA community!