Henry and Karen Coaxum are the 2011 recipients of the Alexis de Tocqueville Award, the highest honor bestowed by United Way for the Greater New Orleans Area, in recognition of their exemplary leadership in community volunteerism and philanthropy.
The Coaxums, a husband-wife team in every endeavor, make a double impact in New Orleans, for both economic development and community improvement. Coaxum Enterprises owns seven McDonald’s restaurants, and, post-Katrina, set a restaurateur record by acquiring and reopening four closed full-service restaurants within five months. Their state-of-the-art Coaxum Enterprises Training and Resource Center trains hundreds of employees each year, and high school student employees are rewarded with pay raises for good grades. Henry and Karen serve on numerous boards for economic development, historic preservation, the arts and health and human services. They donate generously to the organizations to which they are committed, and they urge others to be generous, too.
The Tocqueville Society will also bestow the following new LIVE UNITED honors in 2011:
GIVE:Entergy Corporation ADVOCATE:William “Billy” Nungesser VOLUNTEER:Barbara Turner Windhorst
WHEN: September 24, 2011
WHERE: Roosevelt Hotel in New Orleans
For more information please email:TocquevilleGala@unitedwaynola.org or call 504.293.2647
