As Louisiana begins to tackle the all-too-familiar damage of Hurricane Ida, Faubourg Brewing Co. is giving back to the community it calls home.
The New Orleans-based craft brewery — formerly Dixie Beer — announced in a press release Monday that it has been working directly with Louisiana government leaders to offer any aid it can to people and businesses in the area.
Majority-owner Gayle Benson — who is also principal owner of the NFL’s New Orleans Saints and the NBA’s New Orleans Pelicans — has made an initial $1 million donation to fund the Gulf Coast Renewal Fund to support recovery and relief efforts. She has also offered up the use of any Benson facilities — including the Ochsner Sports Performance Center, where the two teams play — for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to use, according to the release.
“As South Louisiana and the Gulf Coast begin to assess the significant damage inflicted by Hurricane Ida, please know our prayers are with all of those who have suffered from the impacts of this historical storm,” Benson said in a statement shared by the Saints Monday. “Together, we will overcome this challenge the way we have so many times before and will be stronger as a result.”
Faubourg shared a website where people can contribute to the fund: NewOrleansSaints.com/hurricaneida
“Our love for New Orleans runs deep,” the Faubourg release said. “When our original brewery was decimated by Hurricane Katrina, it took 14 years to bring beer production back to New Orleans. We were welcomed back with open arms and it is an honor to be this city’s neighborhood brew.
“We will continue to be in close communication with governmental and community leaders to determine where aid and assistance can most effectively be directed,” it continued.
Ida hit the Gulf Coast as a Category Four hurricane Sunday — exactly 16 years after Katrina, a category five storm, devastated the area. At least four people have died due, and more than 1 million people in Louisiana are currently without power, according to CNN. While the city’s levees, which fell during the 2005 hurricane, held more damaging waves back, the storm caused severe flooding and structural damage in the area, including Jax Brewery in the French Quarter, which had part of its roof ripped off, according to NOLA.com.
Faubourg’s original brewery was one of many buildings destroyed during Hurricane Katrina. The brewery relied on contract brewing until late 2019, when it opened its new facility in New Orleans East, according to the brewery’s website. Benson and her late-husband Tom acquired a majority stake in the brewery in 2017. The brewery changed its name to Faubourg, the French word for “neighborhood,” last year to shed its association with the Confederacy.