Intentional Giving in Hammond: How Cate Street’s Support Flows Through Our Community
Honoring the community that feeds us all!
By Erin Pereira Perez
Intentional giving at Cate Street Seafood Station, a local seafood restaurant in Hammond, Louisiana, is less about writing checks and more about staying rooted in the people and places that shaped us. Around Christmas, that rhythm of year‑round giving simply feels a little closer to the surface. This post is meant to say thank you—to pull back the curtain on how your support turns into support for others—and to invite our Hammond community to keep paying that generosity forward.
What intentional giving means to us
“Intentional giving” is a phrase that gets used a lot, but for us it has a very simple meaning: choosing to give on purpose, not just when it’s convenient or when someone asks at the right time. It means deciding in advance which causes reflect our values, building those commitments into our calendar, and showing up for them year after year.
As a family‑friendly Hammond seafood restaurant, our purpose has always been bigger than what happens inside our walls. The same way a good recipe starts with knowing what flavors you want to bring out, our giving starts with knowing which parts of our community we feel called to support—education, health, inclusion, and the everyday places where Tangipahoa Parish families live, work, and grow.
Jonathan, Jason, + Christopher Wong attending Southeastern’s Chef’s Evening, where we donate and serve meals.
Southeastern Louisiana University: cheering on our home team
Southeastern Louisiana University (SLU) is woven into the heartbeat of Hammond, and supporting SLU has become one of the most natural ways for us to invest in our hometown. Every September, Giving Day gives us a focused moment to contribute financially and to help amplify the university’s mission—but our connection does not stop there. Throughout the year, we partner with student associations, university clubs, and campus groups through sponsorships, donations, and events that keep us engaged with student life in real time.
This kind of ongoing community partnership in Hammond is exactly what intentional giving looks like in practice. Rather than making a one‑time gift and moving on, we commit to walking alongside SLU as it supports students, faculty, and staff all year. In return, we get to watch those same students come in with friends and family, celebrate wins, refuel during finals, and slowly become part of the Cate Street Seafood Station story—another reminder that dining local truly supports our local schools.
Cate Street’s Erin Pereira Perez, Christopher Wong, + Trenton Matthews with Hailey Giaratano from SLU Women’s Basketball
Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center: turning a meal into hope
Closer to October, our focus turns to Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center in Hammond, LA. Cancer touches nearly every family in some way, and local cancer centers play a critical role in providing care, support, and education close to home. Many experts in philanthropy note that impactful giving often comes from long‑term relationships with organizations that address deep, ongoing needs rather than one‑off responses.
Each fall, we host an annual give‑back night at our Hammond restaurant for Mary Bird Perkins and donate financially afterward—but the heart of this tradition is the people whose stories fill the room. Guests dine in honor of loved ones, teams gather after long days of treatment or caregiving, and our staff feels the weight and privilege of serving them. That night reminds us that a local seafood meal in Hammond can carry more meaning when it’s connected to hope, research, and compassionate care.
Options, Inc: showing up with time and heart
Intentional giving is not only about money; many business and nonprofit leaders emphasize the power of pairing financial support with time, skills, and presence. Our relationship with Options, Inc. in Hammond reflects that fuller picture. Each year, we donate financially to support their work, and we also sponsor and volunteer for their events so we’re not just writing a check—we’re physically there: cheering, serving, and helping however we can.
Spending time alongside Options staff, participants, and families reminds us why we committed to them in the first place. Being present at events lets our team put faces and stories to the cause, deepening the connection between what happens in our kitchen and what happens in the wider Hammond, LA community. Many conversations about intentional giving highlight that this kind of personal involvement can create deeper impact and more sustainable community support over time.
Jonathan Wong with Alexis Sterling + Casey Rudolph from Options, Inc.
Beyond three partners: everyday community threads
While these three partnerships anchor our yearly giving rhythm, they’re not the whole story. Throughout the year, we’re constantly saying “yes” to local Hammond schools, youth teams, companies, and organizations that reach out for help with sponsorships, fundraisers, and community events across Tangipahoa Parish. This mix of planned commitments and responsive support mirrors what many experts describe as a healthy approach to charitable giving—a core strategy with room for flexibility when local needs arise.
Sometimes that support looks like a silent auction donation or a sponsorship logo on a t‑shirt. Other times, it’s hosting a spirit night, feeding volunteers, or offering a simple gift card that a family raffle can turn into something bigger. The common thread is that our community has given so much to us, and giving back through our Hammond seafood restaurant is our way of making sure that gratitude doesn’t stay inside our dining room.
Christopher + Jonathan Wong with Matthias Hauswirth from SLU Cheer
Why this matters especially at Christmas
Around the holidays, it’s easy to feel pulled in a hundred directions by donation drives and year‑end appeals. Many advisors on charitable giving encourage people and businesses to pause, reflect, and line up their giving with their deepest values instead of responding only to urgency or emotion. That’s the same approach we try to take at Cate Street Seafood Station in Hammond, LA—not giving out of guilt, but giving out of purpose.
Christmas, with all its lights and traditions, is a natural moment to look back over the year and see the quiet ways generosity has been at work. For us, that means remembering September’s SLU partnerships, October’s Mary Bird Perkins give‑back night, Options events we were able to support, and countless local schools and organizations we were able to say “yes” to because guests chose to dine at our Hammond restaurant.
A thank‑you and an invitation
None of this happens without the people who walk through our doors, order their favorite fresh Gulf seafood, bring their families, and tell their friends. When you choose Cate Street Seafood Station, you’re not only supporting a local seafood restaurant in Hammond, Louisiana—you’re helping fund scholarships, fuel cancer care, create inclusive opportunities, and strengthen the fabric of Tangipahoa Parish.
As Christmas approaches, our hope is that this story feels less like a spotlight on us and more like a celebration of what a community can do together when giving is thoughtful, consistent, and rooted in love for the place we call home. Whether you choose to support a nonprofit, help a neighbor, or simply offer a little extra kindness this season, your intentional choices matter more than you know. Thank you for helping us continue holiday giving in Hammond and for letting us be part of your traditions through every meal, every donation, and every moment shared here at Cate Street Seafood Station.
Jonathan Wong presenting to S.O.L.E. Students from SLU
