Ways to Help

Community Engagement Coordinator Kim Causey and student members of ACTIONS have created the following list of coronavirus-related service opportunities in the New Orleans area. We look forward to adding additional opportunities over time. Click the organization's name when hyperlinked to be taken to the main page. Note that some opportunities are for older teens and adults. 


Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) Drives

City of New Orleans PPE Drive for First Responders
Individuals or businesses in the New Orleans region who have personal protective equipment (PPE) and are willing to spare it for a first responder are asked to drop items at one of three re-purposed Salvation Army drop boxes adjacent to New Orleans Fire Department (NOFD) firehouses. Businesses that may have these items in their inventory include construction companies, non-emergency medical providers like dentist offices, tattoo parlors, nail salons and spas, restaurants, and housekeeping companies. For donations larger than what could fit in a drop box, please contact ppedonations@nola.gov.
Dropbox locations include:
  • Engine house 16: 2000 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
  • Engine house 21: 3940 Paris Ave.
  • Engine house 27: 2118 Elysian Fields Ave.
Items accepted include unused, unopened Masks (surgical, P100, N95), Gloves (latex or nitrile), Disposable Medical Gowns, Goggles, and Face Shields. 

#GetMePPE New Orleans

An initiative to collect and donate personal protective equipment (PPE) to all hospitals in the New Orleans area. There is a healthcare facility request on the website to allow requests from healthcare facilities in the area and a donation link to provide PPE supplies you may have access to. Click here to read a NOLA.com story about #GetMePPE-New Orleans featuring the group's founder, Newman Head Swim Coach Kristi Rigterink. 
 
Helping the Helpers
Helping the Helpers is a grass-roots effort to collect and distribute personal protective equipment (PPE) to local hospitals. Items caregivers need include digital thermometers, hand sanitizer, cleaning wipes, gloves, gowns, masks, goggles, face shields and more. Think creatively! Teri Tanenbaum is happy to collect individual donations and to facilitate donations. If you have any of these items and would like to donate them, there is a donation box located at 6023 Patton Street. For more information, email Teri or call her at 504-813-7027.
 
Supplies for Saints
Supplies for Saints is a New Orleans organization supporting our healthcare workers who are on the front lines of COVID-19. Supply for Saints is connecting local hospitals in need of medical masks, gowns, and gloves, with providers who are able to donate. If you have new and unused medical masks, gowns, and gloves please contact Supply for Saints as they are urgently needed! Click here to view a Fox8 story on Supplies for Saints.
 
Supply Drives and Volunteer Opportunities
 
Broadmoor Food Pantry
The Broadmoor Food Pantry serves 500 families every month, and is open twice a week. To support our operation, it relies on help from volunteers to distribute food and pick up donations. For more information about what volunteer opportunities are available, please email Diana@broadmooreimprovement.com or call 504-249-5130 ext. 6000. 

First 72+
For the last six years, the First 72+ team has worked to help hundreds of formerly incarcerated people access gainful employment and stable housing. The First 72+ was just given an amazing opportunity to support their clients through this current crisis. Starting March 27, all donations (of $5000 or less) made to The First 72+ through the Go Fund Me platform will be doubled by The Stand Together Foundation, up to $100,000. Your donations and the match from The Stand Together Foundation will help keep food on the table for their clients who are out of work, it will help their clients pay their rent so they are not evicted when the quarantine ends, it will put crucial technology in their client's homes so that they can stay connected and informed, and it will help keep their small business owners from losing their businesses while they are unable to operate. Donate HERE to have your contribution doubled, and please don't hesitate to share their fundraising page with your network and community: https://charity.gofundme.com/o/en/campaign/the-first-72.

Hands On New Orleans
Hands On New Orleans' mission is to engage, empower and transform our community through volunteer engagement, community revitalization and disaster response programs. There are many ways you can help during the COVID 19 pandemic, both virtually and in person. Click here for a calendar of volunteer opportunities. 

Junior League Diaper Bank
The Junior League of New Orleans (JLNO) founded its Diaper Bank in 2014 to help families from the bottom up. JLNO buys diapers at a highly discounted rate and provides volunteer support for sorting, packing, and distributing diapers. During this time of increased need in the Metropolitan New Orleans area, they are partnering with Second Harvest to distribute diapers and period supplies to people in need. Click here to view their Amazon Wish List. 

New Orleans Advocates for GLBT Elders (for ages 18+)
NOAGE is in need of volunteers to deliver meals and/or medications to homebound seniors. Please note, the organization will be following CDC guidelines for safe contact. Click here to sign up.

New Orleans Council on Aging

The New Orleans Council on Aging is taking financial donations to support seniors through its Meals on Wheels program and other services. With elderly community members at high risk from COVID-19, please consider giving to the Council on Aging so that they can continue to provide critical services.

The New Orleans Mission
The New Orleans Mission is dedicated to relieving human suffering by combating poverty, hunger, homelessness, exploitation and oppression with the provision of food, clothing, shelter, medical care and other basic necessities of life. They also help facilitate the healing and development of healthy, vibrant and self-sustaining individuals by addressing issues of addiction, abuse and human trafficking through their Christian Discipleship/Recovery Programs. The number of families they serve through their food pantry on the Northshore and the meals they serve on the Southshore have increased significantly due to COVID 19 and they are grateful for donations. 

NOLA Ready Coronavirus Donations & Volunteer Websites
When times get tough, New Orleanians help each other out. Community organizations and philanthropic partners are stepping forward! The City has a list of community partners who are accepting donations and volunteers for COVID-19 response.

NOLA Tree Project (for ages 16+)
NOLA Tree Project needs volunteers to deliver meals to other centers and/or homebound seniors, or other vulnerable populations. Please note, the organization will be following CDC guidelines for safe contact. The group also needs help with meal distribution at our drive-up center in Gentilly. Click here to sign up.

SBP
Now more than ever, having a safe, secure home is essential. Join SBP co-founders, Zack Rosenburg and Liz McCartney, as they provide an overview of SBP's response to COVID-19. Zack and Liz will share how SBP is continuing to fortify their clients against reaching their breaking point during this time of uncertainty and how SBP's interventions will make an impact for people who reside in communities at-risk for severe weather. They are offering two 30-minute calls this Thursday, April 2 and hope you are able to join one of them. Please click on one of the following links to register: Thursday, April 2, 11:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. CST OR Thursday, April 2, 4:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. CST.

Second Harvest Food Bank
Second Harvest is welcoming donations of fresh produce and non-perishable food items, as well as donations of cleaning supplies, soap, and hand sanitizer. Donations can be dropped off Monday through Friday, 7:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. at their Elmwood location (700 Edwards Avenue, New Orleans). Second Harvest is also in need of volunteers for a variety of jobs.

Tulane University School of Medicine Research Study
Dr. Dahlene Fusco and colleagues at Tulane University School of Medicine are requesting help with a research study to understand and develop treatment for severe COVID-19 infection. Click here for more information.

Tulane University School of Medicine iPad/Tablet Drive
Newman alumnus Peter Miller '13 is coordinating a drive to collect iPads and other tablets to connect COVID-19 patients with their loved ones. Peter shares that currently, Tulane hospital has a small inventory of iPads/tablets, and that the patient load has outgrown its capacity. Donations from Newman families are greatly appreciated. Donations can be mailed or delivered to 131 S. Robertson Street, New Orleans, 70112 from 8-5 p.m. Or you can email Peter Miller to schedule pick-up.

The United Way of Southeast Louisiana
The United Way HandsOn Entergy Volunteer Center is seeking volunteers for opportunities related to COVID-19, including phone call check-ins and meal delivery to vulnerable residents. Safety is their top priority, and necessary precautions will be taken to protect volunteers completing in-person duties. Click the link above for opportunities to be a virtual volunteer, food bank volunteer, or meal delivery volunteer.

The United Way Hospitality Cares Pandemic Response Fund
There are over 72,000 individuals employed in hospitality and tourism industry, which accounts for about 12 percent of all workers in the region. And while this industry supports an array of income levels, most of the jobs are in low-wage occupations. Cash-strapped households, commonly referred to as ALICE® (Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed), are often forced to make impossible choices, like deciding between filling a prescription or buying groceries. Every gift to the fund supports hospitality workers afford basic needs while facing the challenges of the COVID-19 outbreak. Starting March 27, New Orleans Saints linebacker Demario Davis and his wife Tamela Gill-Davis are matching up to $25,000 in donations to United Way of Southeast Louisiana’s Hospitality Cares Pandemic Response Fund.


More Ideas and Opportunities Beyond New Orleans

Global Youth Service Day
Global Youth Service Day is the largest youth service and civic action event in the world and the only one that celebrates and builds the capacity of all youth ages 5-25 to help our communities and democracy thrive by working together for the common good.

Youth Service America
Ideas to act in the common good during the coronavirus crisis.


1903 Jefferson Avenue
New Orleans, LA 70115
Phone: 504.899.5641
Fax: 504.896.8597
Open 7:45 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.
Monday through Friday
An independent,
co-educational,
non-denominational day
school in New Orleans for
early childhood through 12th grade