The Brother Martin Culinary Crusaders were featured in a Clarion Herald article:

"What started 11 years ago as a Brother Martin High School teacher’s personal passion, has led to the formation of one of the school’s most popular clubs – Culinary Crusaders. Now 70 members strong, the Culinary Crusaders are comprised of seventh–twelfth grade students learning the art of hospitality from the ground-up.

“When I first started teaching at Brother Martin, I taught biology, and every Monday as sort of a warm-up for the week I would tell the students what I cooked over the weekend,” said Donnie Midkiff, the Culinary Crusaders moderator. “One of the students, who happened to also attend NOCCA approached me after class and asked if I would mind moderating a cooking club. I said yes, we put something together and the club took off from there.”

According to Midkiff, the students learn everything from writing and executing recipes to plating dishes, bussing tables and serving guests while gaining hands-on experience in every aspect of culinary service both on campus and off.

We started with four members, which quickly grew to 12, and after each event we worked we had more students interested in joining,” he added. “We went from just teaching recipes to the boys to having the students work with people in the hospitality industry and working service and event prep and cooking for 400 people at a sit-down meal. It has been an incredible ride for the culinary group.”

The Culinary Crusaders cooks and serves for many events on and off campus, including Elysian Fields Forever, the school’s Alumni Plus 50 Mass and Reunion, Homecoming Tailgate at Tad Gormley, Notre Dame Seminary Gala, Louisiana Hospitality Foundation's Horses, Hops and Cops in City Park, the NJROTC's End of Year Gala and the Zurich Classic of New Orleans. The club cooks and serves for more than 25 events per year."