Volunteers of America Brings Community Together for Cleanup Day in New Orleans East

Nearly 100 volunteers from Home Depot joined Volunteers of America Southeast Louisiana, Councilwoman Cyndi Nguyen, and the East New Orleans Neighborhood Advisory Commission (ENONAC) on Saturday, May 18 to participate in a community-wide cleanup initiative in New Orleans East.

Beginning at Lake Forest Elementary, these volunteers focused their efforts on the neutral grounds on Wright Road from I-10 service road to Chef Menteur Highway and Lake Forest Boulevard from Reed Boulevard to Bullard Avenue.

The areas covered included the neighborhoods of Sherwood Forest, Fauberg, Idlewood, and Lake Forest Estates. This project included work to landscape and beautify Lake Forest Elementary and Sherwood Forest Elementary, as well as clearing a blighted lot adjacent to Sherwood Forest Elementary.

“Volunteers of America Southeast Louisiana was approached by the Home Depot Foundation to develop a community project in New Orleans East,” said Jim LeBlanc, President and CEO of Volunteers of America Southeast Louisiana. “Our Fresh Food Factor serves this area and these schools, so we knew what needed to be done.”

“‘Giving Back’ and ‘Doing the Right Thing’ are two of the core values at The Home Depot. We’re thrilled to work alongside our partners at Volunteers of America Southeast Louisiana and we hope this project positively impacts everyone involved,” said Courtney Blount, Senior Public Relations Specialist at the Home Depot Foundation.

The goal of this volunteer event was to come together as a group to create a more beautiful community. The various volunteers worked together under the leadership of the Volunteers of America Southeast Louisiana to tackle the designated neighborhoods.

“I am so thankful to Volunteers of America and the citizens of District E for coming together to clean up our area,” said Cyndi Nguyen, District E Councilwoman. “We are a community where family comes first and today showed us what we can accomplish when given these types of opportunities to work together.”

“These types of partnerships are crucial and I applaud all the volunteers who came out to serve within our community today,” LeBlanc said. “As you can see, they did an amazing job!”

All volunteers received lunch provided by Fresh Food Factor and donated by Sherwood Forest Elementary. Fresh Food Factor serves more than 2,000 fresh and healthy meals to school children in New Orleans East each day.