When the AAOS moved the 2006 Annual Meeting from New Orleans to Chicago in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, the Chicago Convention and Tourism Bureau (CCTB) and local hotels pledged that $10 per room per night booked would be donated to rebuilding New Orleans. Last month, that pledge was fulfilled when representatives from the CCTB and the 67 participating hotels presented checks totalling nearly $900,000 to two New Orleans institutions. The New Orleans Area Habitat for Humanity received half the money and will use it to construct homes for families of hospitality industry workers displaced by the storm. The other half will fund scholarships for students at the Lester E. Kabacoff School of Hotel, Restaurant and Tourism Administration at the University of New Orleans.

Barry Riemer, MD [second from left], chair of the Louisiana State University Department of Orthopaedics, represented the AAOS at the check presentation, which was held at celebrity chef Emeril Legasse's restaurant.

"The AAOS was one of three associations that participated in the program and was responsible for generating more than $600,000 of the total collected," said CEO Karen L. Hackett, FACHE, CAE. "We are proud to support the rebuilding efforts in New Orleans and look forward to holding our 2010 Annual Meeting there."