MAUREPAS, La (WGNO) — We were in the Bradley family’s kitchen in Maurepas about one hour after the power was restored following Hurricane Ida. The eye of the storm nearly passed over their roof. But after storms, the Bradley’s kitchen has a history of rising up.
In the days following the 911 attacks in 2001, Shawn Bradley decided to load a trailer and drive to Lower Manhattan to feed first responders at Ground Zero. It was a family effort to prepare all the food, and five members of what would become the Gumbo Krewe made the trip.
A little more than a month later, the krewe returned but with a caravan of members. It would go on to feed thousands of people, from our military to first responders, across the country.
20 years after the krewe’s first trip, we sat down with founder Shawn Bradley to look back at the group’s work. But Bradley will tell you that it’s not September 11 that was the big unifying day for the country.
For more on that, click on the video at the top of this story.