Louisiana style fundraising

What's a mud bug?  Well a crawfish, of course.  And why am I writing about mud bugs here?  Because the Optimist Club of New Iberia, Louisiana recently cooked up 5,000 pounds of mud bugs for their Annual Crawfish Boil.

According to Optimist Club chef  Larry Crochet, that's down about 1,000 pounds from last year, but they still served about 1,000 hungry patrons. It is estimated they will raise about $6,000 to $7,000 with this fundraiser.  All proceeds benefit youth projects in New Iberia with special assistance to three JOOI Clubs at Catholic High, Westgate High and New Iberia Senior High.  The Optimist Club also contributes to the library reading program and hosts a bicycle safety fair.

The New Iberia Optimist Club hopes to host a shrimp boil later in the year; however, they are concerned that the BP oil spill in the Gulf might make that impossible.

Read more about this project and see some pictures of the event at this link.