Hahnville businessman is cool with pink to help others

When the Winn-Dixie shopping spree that Paul Triche of Hahnville had won was over, Triche’s two baskets just happened to be full of items that homeless people need.

“I wasn’t wandering around the store. I was grabbing arms full of cans,” Triche said. “I was able to put a lot in the basket. I knew what aisles I needed to go to.”

When the announcement came that the spree was over, in just 2-1/2 minutes, he had filled his baskets with items like water, Gatorade, canned meats and granola bars.

As CEO of Health Data Specialists in Luling, Triche could well afford groceries. But he’d decided this was an opportunity for generosity of heart – and it turned out to be true for the many who helped make this fundraiser possible.

“I have to do this,” he decided when he got the recent telephone call that he’d won Team Tasha’s “A Pink Carpet Event” benefitting the Kingdom Project, a nonprofit organization started by her friend Heather Burnam, also of Destrehan, that helps feed and care for the homeless in the New Orleans area. The event’s grand prize was a one-minute shopping spree at Winn-Dixie in Destrehan. He added, “Let me give back what I can.”

And Triche gave back, as well as the many who helped make the event possible.

“I think it’s a wonderful effort,” he said of he and his wife wanting to set an example as Christians. “A lot of people need help and I was glad I was able to do this for them. They’re bringing the message of Jesus to them, which I think is wonderful, too.”

Tasha Bourgeois, also of Destrehan and senior mortgage special with Premier Lending, put the fundraiser together as a pink event to support cancer awareness. In 2013, Bourgeois’ mother was diagnosed with cancer and she’d “flock” family and friends with pink flamingos for donations to cover her mother’s medical expenses.

“Everyone loved it and requested the flamingos,” she said, adding, she decided to flock her new home buyers’ yards with flamingos and a congrats sign. This is how the ‘pink’ started.

The pink event came with a black limo ride to the store and pink roses for Triche, which he presented to his wife, Penny, and a walk down pink carpet to the store. There were even pink balloons.

When it came time for the shopping spree, Triche decided he was donating the groceries to Project Kingdom when he learned about the cause.

“He was such a good sport,” Bourgeois said. “We explained everything to him beforehand. He giggled and said he was game for whatever, and that he would even wear his pink shirt.”

Triche’s support went a long way toward kicking off Team Tasha’s first Pink Carpet Event, which Bourgeois said generated $4,890.

When Winn-Dixie learned what Triche was doing with the groceries, the store chipped in, too.

Triche was told to keep on shopping even when the one-minute alarm went off. He actually got a little over 2 minutes to shop.

“We were totally surprised, shocked and so grateful that he would do this,” Bourgeois said of his donation. “This thought never crossed our minds. We were happy to give someone a shopping spree with free food from the money raised.”

Bergeron brings supplies and food to the homeless every week, as well as works with them to get off the street and off drugs.

“Heather goes in the city sometimes twice a week to care for, love, pray, bring food and supplies to the homeless, as well as gives them attention and has gotten a few off the street,” Bourgeois said. “She says they love socks … they call them freshies.”

For Triche, this cause fit with he and his wife’s focus on work-life-spiritual balance.

“You just need to be organized to do these things,” he said of balancing his spiritual life with his work of helping hospitals install computer systems and managing them.

Triche, a Hahnville businessman who grew up in Norco, started his business in 2004, which has ranked among the state’s fastest growing businesses in Louisiana.

But, as important, he’s a man unafraid of wearing pink and most certainly one devoted to giving back to the community.

“I’m not concerned about any of that,” he said of wearing a bright, pastel color or accepting flowers for a good cause. “Pink roses? That was fine, too. I think it’s everybody’s responsibility to help those less fortunate than themselves.”

 

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