Jambalaya fundraiser for motorcycle officer sells out: 'We will always rise to the occasion'

Dozens of Baton Rouge first responders gathered around large pots of jambalaya Thursday morning, cooking under tents and passing plates of food to cars waiting in a line outside police headquarters.

The cause: raising funds for the family of Sgt. Caleb Eisworth, a BRPD motorcycle patrol officer who was struck by a pickup. in what police believe was an intentional attack by driver Gad Black, 41, who was arrested on a count of attempted first-degree murder and hate crimes.

Chief Thomas Morse Jr connected Monday's alleged attack — during which he said Eisworth was dragged for several hundred feet — to a shooting this week that injured an agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

"It hit me hard just a couple days ago on Tuesday night," Morse said. "It hit me that we could really be having to plan two funerals right now, and how thankful we are that God has led us through this."

Eisworth was rushed to the hospital Monday, where he remains in critical condition. Morse said the situation is very "touch and go," but Eisworth's family said he "continues to fight and each day is filled with little wins that add up" in a statement released Thursday.

Morse said he first visited Eisworth in the hospital in the dark morning hours of Tuesday, after traveling back to Baton Rouge from a conference in California.

He said by the time he entered Eisworth's hospital room at Our Lady of the Lake, it was 1:30 a.m., and Mayor Sid Edwards was already there at Eisworth's bedside.

Edwards also made an appearance at the fundraiser, telling The Advocate, "I'm just here to support."

"Sometimes the worst times bring out the best of people. This is a collaborative effort by a whole bunch of people to help one of our fallen brothers," Edwards said. "In Baton Rouge — I say it all the time — we will always rise to the occasion."

The fundraiser was originally the idea of the Baton Rouge Fire Fighters IAFF Local 557.

"They were the first ones to reach out to us and said, 'Hey, let us come cook, let us do a jambalaya benefit,'" Morse said.

Jacob Morgan, the union's president, said he was inspired to offer support after a string of line-of-duty deaths at the fire department over the past two years.

Multiple of these deaths were due to cancer and all came after the fact from illnesses suffered while fighting fires.

Good cause

Standing over a steaming kettle, Morgan added, "we make an awesome jambalaya."

The plates were each $12, with "every single cent" of the proceeds going to Eisworth's wife and daughter, Morse said. The ingredients were donated.

More than 1,400 meals had already been presold online by the time the fundraiser began. By midday, the food had sold out.

Also on site were two blood drive buses, allowing attendees to donate blood in support of Eisworth.

In a statement released following the fundraiser, the officer's family thanked law enforcement and first responder agencies across the parish, with special attention to Morse.

"To Chief T.J. Morse and the Baton Rouge Police Department, you truly are family," the statement reads. "Your round the clock care and attention to every detail has reminded us of the bond we share."

The family also thanked the larger Baton Rouge community for the support and prayers that "have been felt from the moment that evil attempted to destroy our world."

They also included thanks for the mayor, as well as the doctors and nurses of OLOL.

Overall, the statement echoed what Morse and Edwards said about how the law enforcement community, and the city at large, responds to tragedies: by coming together as "ONE community."

Eisworth is a decorated officer, having served for 23 years and joining the department's motorcycle division in 2008. He has received multiple awards from the department, including BRPD's highest honor, the Medal of Valor, for having pulled a motorist from a burning vehicle while off-duty.