Welcome All...

I'm Jen and this is our new volunteer group NOLACares' blog. I'm writing my first post, and must add that I am not a seasoned blogger. However, I have been meaning to start for quite some time so here goes...

First off...

What is NOLACares?

NOLACares is a volunteer group formed in and around New Orleans to help feed the homeless and to generally spread positivity in our community whenever and however we can. We will strive to do our parts in rebuilding the city each of us loves so dearly.

How was NOLACares born?

NOLACares was created when Henry and I met over an ad he'd posted for people to "help him help others." I responded to his ad, and within days we had our first 10 volunteers and lots of other useful help from the people of New Orleans.

Henry was inspired to create a volunteer group when his son asked him a simple question-- "Why is that man sleeping on the side of the road?" Henry didn't have the answer, but asked his son if he'd like to share the new drink he had in his cupholder. His four year old son happily obliged and Henry thought if his child could help out the homeless in our city, then HE could do something as well.

I, on the other hand, was inspired by my homelessness and drug addiction in my past. I knew two years ago when I got sober that I would do SOMETHING in honor of the people who helped me survive and who cared about me even when I didn't care about myself. I began taking classes working towards a Bachelor's Degree in Psychology with a concentration in Substance Abuse knowing that when I graduated I wanted to do non-profit work... However, this happened to come along in the middle so I jumped on board and haven't looked back. Hopefully, my classes and real-life experience will prepare me for a long-term career move in this line of work.

When Henry and I began brainstorming our ideas seemed to come together very easily. We decided on the name New Orleans Cares which has been shortened to NOLACares now, and we decided that we want to feed the hungry in the Downtown/Quarter areas. We even had a graphic donated to us, which we are able to use as a logo thanks to HENNY DONOVAN MOTIF in London, England!!!

We have started a Google Group and a Facebook Group to get the word out about our organization, and are open to any ideas anyone else has about networking!

When will NOLACares first meal debut?

That is up to every one of us involved. If anyone has a Sam's Club membership, it would probably be beneficial for us to shop somewhere like that until we can get some donors for the food products. I have a great deal of work left to do as far as finding out the Rules and Regulations of feeding homeless people in New Orleans, and any ties to the Homeless Coalition would be great... Let me know if you know someone. Long Story Short, we plan to serve hot meals, and we plan to do it A/S/A/P!

Volunteers

Please contact either Henry or Jen at new.orleans.cares@gmail.com or message us on one of our groups. Even if you can't volunteer you can add us. If your friends and family see, they may be able to spare an hour or so of their time, and anything helps!

I have a few ideas in case anyone is interested in helping get them off the ground:

1. Mardi Gras is coming up! If we can get some tourists to donate their hotel toiletries they don't use to us, we can bag them up in Gallon Ziplocs and create hygiene packs for the homeless. This was one on my most prized possessions when I was homeless!

2. Recycling Water Bottles. I read on another homeless feeding site that they would pass out water bottles and whenever the people were finished eating they'd throw the bottles into a separate bag and the volunteers would wash them out and fill them again the next week to cut back on costs. I have a water filter, so this would be absolutely no problem for me to handle if anyone thinks it would work. I, personally knowing a great deal of homeless people, think they'd be into it as many of them are eco-conscious to begin with!

3. Print Material. Anyone who is into flier design and/or brochures who could help us out with some design ideas would be a great deal of help. I may have a friend who is willing to do this, but I'm not sure yet! We will need fliers to recruit volunteers as well as to let the homeless know that we are feeding. We will need the brochures to seek donations of food or services and networking contacts.

So there you go! My first post. Let me know what you think, and I promise to get better as I go along!