New Orleans Saints ILB Jonathan Vilma hosted his fourth annual Celebrities Servers event Monday night at Morton's the Steakhouse in New Orleans.
Along with Vilma, Owner/Vice Chairman of the Board Rita Benson LeBlanc, Head Coach Sean Payton, Saints players Charles Brown, Jimmy Graham, Roman Harper, Will Herring, Ramon Humber, Malcolm Jenkins, Cameron Jordan, Robert Meachem, Thomas Morstead, Pierre Thomas and Will Smith and former players Steve Gleason, Michael Lewis and Fred McAfee attended the event.
Guests mingled with Saints players for an hour-long reception prior to the sit down event and were later served steak dinners by the members of the Black and Gold. [
"We have such a great turnout every time we do this and it's been humbling," said Vilma. "You start to see a lot of familiar faces and I am really gratefull for that."
All proceeds benefit the Jonathan Vilma Foundation helping to build schools in Haiti and continuing students' education.
ABOUT THE JONATHAN VILMA FOUNDATION
NFL star Jonathan Vilma established The Jonathan Vilma Foundation to support the building of a school in Haiti. In 2010, a devastating 7.0 earthquake struck the region killing more than 230,000 people of which 40,000 were students and 1,000 were teachers. More than 50 schools were destroyed. Jonathan's parents emigrated from Haiti and family members remain in the country. Jonathan is deeply committed to assisting in the long-term rebuilding efforts.
In May 2011, the Jonathan Vilma Foundation made a $50,000 grant to Artists for Peace and Justice (APJ) to help expand the school they built in Haiti in response to the devastating earthquake. The school is fittingly named the Academy for Peace and Justice. In April 2012, Vilma visited the school and met with the students who now receive free education, uniforms, food, clean water, transportation and medical care through the school. In 2012 and 2013, the Jonathan Vilma Foundation made grants of $100,000 and $50,000, respectively, to help further expand the Academy in Haiti. For additional information, please call 310.649.5222 or visit www.JonathanVilmaFoundation.org.
