'It's what we are supposed to do': Couple feeds the hungry with heart and ingenuity

Lester Benoit pulled the cord on his generator, and it roared to life. It was freezing that night, and he had people to feed.

Lester and his wife, Jody, have been donating meals to the hungry for about four years. What started as a small mission during the COVID pandemic has only grown larger. This day, Jan. 19, the two were at the Dumas Auditorium. The Parish had opened it as a warmth refuge against the freezing temperatures of the weekend.

"It wasn't supposed to be for long, but God had a different plan," Jody said. "We just give them to people who have need, whether they don't have income or they've been in the hospital recently or just - we give to the hungry."

The two took overstocked meals made by catering companies for oilfield workers and would give them to the needy. They were only going to do it until the pandemic passed, but when the meals kept arriving, the two felt it was their mission to keep delivering them. To date, the two estimate they have handed out about 55,000 meals.

Some examples of who they give to, according to Jody, include families with members who have Alzheimer's disease, and those being helped by The Haven.

The Benoits asked that the donors not be named, but said anyone who would like to inquire about meals could reach them through their church: The House of Prayer in Thibodaux, (985) 446-2620.

They began by handing out the meals at the church, but now Lester has converted a trailer into a mobile microwave. The trailer has a generator and deep freezer in the center, and two thick pieces of plywood on the sides. When he's ready to feed people, he puts the microwaves on the sides, plugs everything in, and fires up the generator.

Minutes later the meals are rolling. Asked why the two do it, Jody just shrugged her shoulders.

"It's what we are supposed to do," she said. "We're supposed to feed our brothers."

Deshawn Pettiford, of New Jersey, arrived in Houma three years ago. A string of bad luck left the former salesman jobless, homeless and now carless. He's searching for work, but he said it's hard to come by. He joined the crowd of volunteers marveling at Lester's ingenuity, and received the first meal: Mashed potatoes, meat loaf and corn, and another plate had a burrito.

"I eat these meals all the time. They have them at the church. They're alright, I usually eat the chicken ones, like the chicken nuggets." Pettiford said. "I don't think I ever had this one."

The meat loaf was pretty good, he said. Pettiford tends to spend his nights sleeping in front of the local library. He said he sleeps there because if anything were to happen to him, at least the video cameras would catch it.

He said he used to sleep in his car, but without the insurance being paid it was towed.

"I'm trying to stay in decent spirits, man, you know what I mean… I just can't catch a break," Pettiford said. That's why now he sleeps on the library's bench in his sleeping bag, "At least if something happens, if I die, yeah whatever, but at least you are going to jail," he said of anyone who might try to hurt him there.

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Tonight, Jan. 19, he said he could sleep more soundly, because he was sleeping in the Dumas Auditorium.

The Terrebonne Parish Consolidated Government Housing and Human Resources division opened the Dumas Auditorium as a shelter for those who needed refuge from the weekend's elements.

Temperatures dipped below freezing Friday and Saturday nights. When temperatures went into the low 20s earlier in the week, they opened the Houma Municipal Auditorium as a shelter.

Events were scheduled at Municipal over the weekend, so the Dumas was opened in response to expected dips again.

The government provided the space, and volunteers were ready to prepare meals, when suddenly the strange looking trailer rolled up.

"He's going to buy a couple more microwaves, and we have the generator here that's keep it going," Jody said. "He's just going to go wherever he can find that people need meals and don't have electricity."

This article originally appeared on The Courier: Couple feeds the hungry with heart, ingenuity