LULING — With 80 teams cooking jambalaya or gumbo, United Way of St. Charles kicked off its fundraising campaign with the ninth annual Battle for the Paddle cook-off on Thursday, Oct. 7, at the West Bank Bridge Park in Luling.

The Battle for the Paddle is held to mark the beginning of United Way of St. Charles annual campaign to raise funds that support local programs and agencies serving St. Charles Parish.

“We could not be happier about the excitement that the Battle for the Paddle generates in the community as the kickoff event for our Annual Campaign. Our goal is $2.4 million dollars this year, and we are confident the type of energy generated by the Battle for the Paddle will serve us well as we work to raise funds and support our community,” stated John Dias, UWSC executive director.

Cooking began at 11 a.m., and the public was invited to join from 4 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Over 2,400 attendees came out for unlimited sampling of the area’s best gumbo and jambalaya and live entertainment. The Battle for the Paddle event raised over $20,000 for United Way of St. Charles.

The 2010 winners of the Battle for the Paddle included:

Jambalaya

The Mechanics, Entergy Waterford 3

Putting on the Roux, Valero – St. Charles Refinery

Gumboholics, Valero – St. Charles Refinery

Gumbo

School Dudes, St. Charles Parish Public Schools

Civil Construction Contractors, Civil Construction

Bayou Brigade, Motiva

People’s Choice Awards

Gumbo: GIX, Monsanto

Jambalaya: Wangsta’s Crew, St. Charles Parish Public Schools

United Way of St. Charles also recognized its “Pacesetter” companies who held their United Way fundraising efforts before the official kickoff to help generate momentum for the campaign. The Pacesetter companies included Valero, Norco Manufacturing Complex, Dow, Monsanto, OxyChem, Cytec, Hexion, ADM, J&K Office Supplies, Bunge and Arc of St. Charles.