COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT

Thanksgiving Baskets (2011)

5th annual VPC Thanksgiving drive gives to 200 families in South Plaquemines. VENICE, La. — The Venice Port Complex (VPC) organized its 5th annual Thanksgiving gift basket drive to support members of their community on Nov. 19 and 20, 2011.

"Thanksgiving is a time to reflect on all that we have to be grateful for and to share with those less fortunate in the community," said George Pivach, II, VPC vice president and general counsel. "I'm continually amazed at the outpouring of goods and support for our gift basket drive. It's wonderful how everyone comes together to help bring joy to these families in need."

The drive provided 200 families in South Plaquemines a Thanksgiving basket that included a turkey and traditional holiday fare. The VPC, VPC tenants, local businesses and residents gave contributions and assisted in the packaging and delivery of the baskets to area residents. Recipient names were provided from several churches, schools and charitable institutions that represent the area.

The following businesses provided contributions to this event:

Platinum Level $2,000 and above:
The Louisiana Fruit Company/Venice Port Complex
Premier Industries, Inc.

Gold Level $1,000 to $1,999:
Denet Towing, Inc.
Fremin’s Food Liner
U.S. Liquids of La., L.P.

Silver Level $500 to $999:
National Oilwell Varco
Madere & Sons Towing, Inc.
Abe's Boat Rental
Ballestra’s Food Liner
Cypress Cove Marina, Inc.
Daybrook Fisheries, Inc.
Ellzey Marine and Hardware, Inc.
Fill A Sack
Pivach, Pivach, Hufft & Thriffiley LLC

Bronze Level $100 to $499:
Ansardi Financial LLC
Callais Marine Service of Venice, Inc.
Couvillion Group LLC
John W Stone Oil Distributor, L.L.C.
Liberty Services, Inc.
Settoon Construction Inc.
D&C Seafood, Inc.
Cattle Farms Management, LLC
Ben Becnel’s
Delta Wells Surveyors, Inc.
Deltone Electric, Inc.
Maw's Sandwich and Snack Shop
Robert Modansky
Newman Crane Service Inc.
Offshore Cleaning Systems, LLC

Contributor/Friend $0 to $99:
Whitetail Oilfield Services, LLC.

The following companies and parish residents provided help and assistance:
Harmonie Antoine, Kathleen Antoine, Andrew Barrois, Bayli Barrois, MacKenzie Barrois, Boothville Venice Elementary School, Boothville Venice Vol. Fire Dept., Joe Clark, Marla Cooper and Staff, Isabelle Couvillion, Timmy Couvillion, Dace Duffy, Jeff Edgecombe and Staff, Michelle Frickey, Tony Frickey, Ricky Harvey, Todd Harvey Byron Marinovich and Staff, Rolf & Marlyn Parelius, Cherie Pete, Port Sulphur Baptist Church, Kelsey Prestenburg, Zarian Rachuba, Solid Rock Academy, South Plaquemines Elementary School, South Plaquemines High School, Gerald & Mary Thompkins, Trinity United Methodist Church, Burghart Turner and Staff, Venice Baptist Church and Venice Steel.

"Thank you to all the residents and VPC businesses who helped make this year's drive so successful. Their generosity helped make this Thanksgiving special for more than two hundred families in our community," said Tony Frickey, VPC site supervisor.

Venice Restoration Project

This March, the Louisiana Fruit Company/ Venice Port Complex funded an experiment at Venice, Louisiana that will help reclaim coastal wetlands, restore Louisiana’s eroded coastline, and reduce future storm surges at the Venice Port Complex.

The Venice Restoration Experiment is a collaboration involving the Louisiana Fruit Company, Empire Environmental Solutions, Dr. Alex Kolker of Louisiana University Marine Consortium (LUMCON), and the Gulf Coast Restoration Project.  The project involves planting 5,000 two-year-old, salt-tolerant bald cypress (Taxodium distichum) seedlings and then monitoring sedimentation rates (the rate at which the tree roots help anchor sediment to form land), tree growth, tree losses, and water salinity.  The information gathered through this experiment will be applied to other coastal restoration projects in Plaquemines Parish.

The experiment area, which is just across Tante Phine Pass, was land 30 years
ago. The project is establishing seedlings in an attempt to reclaim this land. 

“Bald cypress are native to fresh water and low salinity wetlands in South Louisiana,” says Dr. Kolker, a sediment expert with LUMCON, who advises the experiment.  “Planting them is an established coastal restoration method that has been used across the southern United States.

”The project has faced many difficulties due to invasive species. “Nutria are the biggest problem because they eat the bark off the tree,” explains Richie Blink, with Empire Environmental Solutions, the local company that planted trees, “Feral hogs, rabbits and water hyacinth threaten
the trees, too, so we take extra time to wrap them in wire mesh. Although we’re doing some intense nutria control in the experiment area, we can’t be there all the time.”  Fortunately, the project is getting a helping hand from local alligators. 

“We’re finding that the more alligators in the area, the lower the mortality rate of the trees,” Blink says. “You can really see how everything is connected.”

“The planting of trees in Plaquemines Parish is a key part of our coastal restoration efforts,” says Plaquemines Parish president Billy Nungesser. “Our Coastal Plan involves pumping sediment to
build large ridges with trees.  A ridge of trees lowers storm surge eight to one over a mound of marsh grass.  These trees help create additional protection for our coastline and precious marshes.”

Trash Bash (2010)

We would like to acknowledge and thank the following businesses and individuals for participating in the 2010 Trash Bash to clean up the major roads and thoroughfares in the Venice Port Complex. Participants in the April 22, 2010 trash bash included:

Buras Volunteer Fire Department Annual Oilfield Crawfish Boil-Off (2011)

On Saturday, April 30, 2011, the Buras Volunteer Fire Department held their Annual Oilfield Crawfish Boil-Off. This event raises funds for department improvement projects, such as equipment items, training and fire prevention at local schools, summer camp and vacation bible schools. The Oilfield Crawfish Boil-Off proved to be an entertaining event with music from the Big River Band and Aaron Foret and the Swamp Pop Band. This year’s event included four-member teams who boiled more than 700 sacks of crawfish totaling 15 tons. Crawfish were judged on color, taste, texture, flavor and appearance. The winners of the boil-off were first place: PMI; second place: FAB CON; and third place USES. Best in Show and People's Choice Awards went to Camps Seafood.

Louisiana Fruit Company and Venice Port Complex make donation to help Plaquemines Parish 4-H Program

The Louisiana Fruit Company, developer of the Venice Port Complex donated $7,500 to the Plaquemines Parish 4-H Program to help 4-H families who have been affected by the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill.

“We wanted to show our support of the 4-H youth development program and make certain that the student members whose lives were affected by the oil spill would still have the opportunities that 4-H offers them,” said George Pivach ll, representative of the VPC. "The experiences and lessons learned participating in 4-H programs can be life changing for these young adults and we are proud to be a part of that."

Plaquemines Parish 4-H founded its Parish 4-H Foundation Charter in 1995. The 4-H Program is designed for youngsters ages nine through 19 and is based on the principle of "learning by doing.” 4-H enables young people to learn technical facts and life skills important for success in school and in everyday activities. There are more than 500 members in 13 organizational clubs and one Junior Leader Club in Plaquemines Parish.

“We are deeply grateful and appreciative of the generous donation from the VPC. This donation will help us to continue to offer excellent educational opportunities for the youth of Plaquemines Parish. 4-H members will continue learning about their environment, achieving positive attitudes and developing life skills that will prepare them to be our future leaders. Their support of the Plaquemines Parish youth development program is greatly appreciated," says 4-H Agent Jan Morgan.

"Because of the dedication of businesses like the VPC, the 4-H youth of Plaquemines Parish will be able to participate in 4-H events such as 4-H Camp, 4-H University, Junior Leadership Camp, 4-H Science camp and many more," adds Morgan.