Hello Everyone,
What began 13 days ago after a call from the Mayor’s office asking if we would be willing to distribute food to members of the LGBTQ, service industry, and gig economy communities has so far resulted in 620 people signed up and the disbursement of over 6,000 meals over three days. TODAY is day four!
None of this would have been possible without our amazing team of dedicated volunteers. As we move into our second week of meal distribution, we wanted to thank all of you for your patience and understanding. We know that there have been kinks in the system, and we are doing our best to rectify any issues in our meal delivery and pick up operations as we identify them.
Coordinating and stabilizing multiple supply chains has been a challenge, but we are facing that challenge together with a large network of city offices and local organizations all working to ensure that no segment of the New Orleans population is left behind. Over the last week and a half, we have all coordinated together to problem solve circumstances beyond any individual or group’s control and share resources amongst each other to ensure that our collective mission in ensuring food security in our communities is accomplished.
Moving forward, we wanted to update you on what to expect in the coming weeks:
This Week Ending 4/12
Due to the current limitation of our supply chain to only offer split deliveries, we will be distributing meals Saturday 4/11 from 1-4pm. Each meal kit distributed will have a selection of several sandwiches, snacks, and breakfast items. The goal is to give you enough food over those two days to get you through until our next disbursement day. We are also actively soliciting donations of fresh, canned and shelf-stable pantry items, so any additional goods that we procure on that timeline will be added to your bags as well.
Next Week Ending 4/19 and All Subsequent Weeks
Starting 4/13, we will have the full delivery of the bulk of our meal items dropped off to us on Mondays. This will enable us to pack you an entire week’s worth of sandwiches, breakfast items and snacks to be distributed at one time on Tuesdays so you can receive the majority of your meals at one time. Again, we are actively soliciting donations of fresh, canned and shelf-stable pantry items which will also be included in your bag as they are made available to us. We have a variety of different things in the works, all on different timelines. As we receive these donations at our site and ancillary locations, we will set up and alert you to additional distribution days as necessary so that we can get as much varied food and pantry items out to you as possible.
ACTION STEPS
Pick-up TODAY 4/11 – Your meals will be available for pick-up from 1pm-4pm at our distribution location at 700 Burgundy on a first come first serve basis.
Delivery TODAY 4/11 – Your meals will be delivered between 1pm-4pm. Your driver will contact you to let you now that they are on the way and again when they arrive at your location to let you know that they are placing your bag at your door.
General Info – We will be contacting everyone signed up by phone over the next few days to check-in. In order to ensure that we have the ability to order appropriately to meet the rising demand for meals, please let us know if your needs change and would like to opt-out of the program.
Thank you all again for your patience and understanding as we endeavor to do everything we can to help our community during this time. Food is love and we love all of you! If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact us at 504-609-9378. (If you do not receive an answer right away, please text and we will get back to you as soon as possible.)
In Solidarity, Sarah Manowitz, Reed Wendorf, and the CrescentCity.com Team