NEW ORLEANS (press release) – In what is proving to be a challenging holiday season with an unemployment rate of over 15% in Orleans Parish, Teach For America Greater New Orleans (TFA GNO) is giving back to students and families through their Holiday Helpers campaign this year. In keeping with their commitment to supporting students in communities across Greater New Orleans, TFA GNO is partnering with local student-support organizations Son of a Saint and EdNavigator to provide educational toys and gifts to students, along with meals for families through a generous donation from Dinner Saint.
“We know that families are struggling this year like never before and we wanted to brighten the holidays for as many as we could while supporting student learning,” said TFA GNO Executive Director Joy Okoro. “While our teachers are busy supporting students in the classroom, we’re excited to support the important work that our partners at EdNavigator and Son of a Saint are doing for our students and families through our Holiday Helpers campaign.”
Throughout November and December, TFA GNO partnered with staff at Son of a Saint and EdNavigator to create a gift list for students that the organizations serve. All gifts will support student learning and development, including items like a LeapFrog My Own Leaptop, a Kindle Fire HD, and TI -84 calculators.
“This partnership with Teach For America’s Holiday Helpers campaign creates impact for us and means we get to enrich the lives of more deserving families across Greater New Orleans,” says Son of a Saint Founder and CEO Bivian “Sonny” Lee III. “We’re honored to help bring holiday joy in this way and at this time.”
Lee’s words are echoed by TFA alumnus and EdNavigator Executive Director Gary Briggs, who says, “Our families deserve to share in a moment of happiness as we close out 2020. When we work together, our impact is amplified, bringing comfort to families who will realize that there are organizations dedicated to their success.”
Individual gift bags will be created by TFA GNO staff and will be provided to 45 families from both organizations at the TFA GNO office on Friday, December 18th. TFA GNO will organize a drive-through station for families and staff from the organizations to provide them with their gifts and meals of red beans and rice from local “ghost kitchen” Dinner Saint.
“We deeply admire the work that Teach For America and their partners are doing for our communities and are excited to partner with them to share our award-winning red beans and rice with their students,” says Brent McCrossen, the managing director of Revelry StartUp studio that has created Dinner Saint, Inc.
This partnership marks the first of many new initiatives that Teach For America aims to create to support the students and families of Greater New Orleans as the organization celebrates its 30th anniversary of impact this year. For more information, please contact gnopublicaffairs@teachforamerica.org.
