Woman from Destrehan uses business to help food bank
Sondra Berger, from Destrehan, gave her time back to the community for years through volunteering. Now she’s giving from her pockets as well.
In 2006, she founded Fleur De Light Candles and now she is using her company to help feed the hungry all over South Louisiana.
“Since I started my candle business, I always wanted to give something back to the community,” Berger said. “Second Harvest kept coming to my mind.”
Berger created a line of candles that launched last month called “See the light, feed the hungry.” Money from the sale of each candle is donated to the Second Harvest Food Bank of Greater New Orleans, which donates food to 240 member agencies, including ____ throughout St. Charles.
She said that her grandmother often told her about the depression-era food shortages she went through as a child and that made a big impact on her life.
“I always felt for people who didn’t have enough food,” Berger said.
So far, Berger said her candles sales have helped to feed about 3,300 people. She keeps a running meter on the Facebook page for Fleur De Light Candles of how many people the donations have been able to help.
Leslie Doles, Director of Communications at Second Harvest, said that for every $1 donated to the food bank, they can provide a meal for a family of four.
“If people are thinking ahead to the holidays or thinking about giving a gift, the candle is one gift they could give that is also a way to support the food bank,” Doles said.
Berger said that the food bank is one of her favorite charities.
“They’re just great people and I know that a good portion of the money we donate goes directly to feeding the people, versus overhead and expenses,” Berger said.
Her volunteer work with the food bank and other charities throughout the parish helped her make the decision to donate some of her profits.
“I had volunteered at Second Harvest over the past few years with my kids,” Berger said. “I got to see firsthand some of the hunger issues in the parish and talk to school nurses and it just really propelled me into needing to put a program together and make a commitment to it.”
The food bank released a study in March called Map the Meal Gap. According to the report, in St. Charles Parish there are over 6,000 people who feel insecure about food, meaning that they do not know where their next meal will come from. That is about 12 percent of the parish’s population. Of that, about 2,700 are children. The study also said that about 20 percent of total children in the parish feel insecure about food.
The Fleur de Light candles are sold locally at The Basketry in Luling. For more information or to buy online, visit www.fleurdelightcandles.com.
Be the first to comment