NEW ORLEANS – On Friday, March 31, NetWork Volunteers, a New Orleans nonprofit dedicated to recruiting and managing volunteers, and Marriott International will join forces for the Spirit to Serve event, which will help more than 40 local nonprofits with a philanthropic impact upwards of $360,000.
The massive volunteer effort kicks off at 12:30 p.m. and takes place in various locations from Central City to the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center.
“In New Orleans, there are many amazing nonprofits doing great work for their communities who appreciate and rely on the support of volunteers,” said NetWork Volunteers Executive Director Teddy Nathan. “In that spirit, it remains awe-inspiring to see the impact so many people and organizations can have when working together.”
“We are so excited to partner with Marriott in this endeavor,” he said. “The Spirit to Serve event is a great opportunity for both the Marriott and city of New Orleans. In just one day, we will complete over 10,000 volunteer hours. That’s a lot of added support for our city and shows a little goes a long way with the collective power of thousands of volunteers doing a variety of projects for a unified mission and effort.”
This will be the largest single volunteer day in a single location in the Marriott’s history, hotel reps said. More than 3,000 Marriott volunteers will complete a total of 10,500 volunteer hours. Of those 3,000 volunteers, roughly 2,500 volunteers will be working on various projects in the Central City area including home building and school campus beautification. The other 500 will be at the Convention Center where they will be preparing hygiene kits, recycling used Mardi Gras beads and conducting disaster preparation services, among other things.
The volunteers are coming to New Orleans for the Marriott Select Service and Extended Stay Conference, bringing together thousands of general managers from Marriott properties that include Courtyard, Residence Inn, Fairfield, SpringHill Suites, TownePlace Suites, AC Hotels and Moxy, as well as Marriott executives.
“These volunteers not only give the additional hands many nonprofits need, but also help increase awareness of the great work they are doing,” said Nathan. “They also help build and generate support locally, nationally and internationally for New Orleans.”
Projects include educational, environmental, neighborhood, housing and arts and culture initiatives.
Specific projects include:
• Jericho Road: 2106 Jericho St. – 1:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. – Home building
• Groundwork New Orleans: 1618 Oretha Castle Haley Blvd. – 1:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. – Working on public rain gardens
• Harmony Oaks: 2514 Washington Ave. – 1:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. – Painting walls
• KIPP Central City Academy: 2514 Third St. – 1:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. – Campus beautification
• At the Convention Center: 900 Convention Center Blvd. – Exhibit Hall G – 1:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. – Mardi Gras bead recycling, letter writing and preparing Hygiene kits
• There will also be a Resource Fair at A.L. Davis Park, 2600 LaSalle and Fourth Street – 1:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. – More than 30 different organizations will be participating including Girls on the Run, New Orleans Area Habitat for Humanity, and Crescent City WIC Services.
