There are plenty of organizations ready and able to help New Orleans’ residents who have been displaced and disrupted by Hurricane Ida. Here’s how you can help donate to help NOLA relief efforts.
Hurricane Ida hit Southeastern Louisiana hard — and those in and outside of the meetings and hospitality industry are eager to help. One NOLA relief fundraising example: On Sept. 2, four popular Florida rooftop bars — EDGE Rooftop Cocktail Lounge (Epicurean Hotel in Tampa); Hi-Fi Rooftop Bar (Fenway Hotel in Dunedin); Vantage Rooftop Bar (The Karol Hotel in Clearwater); and Beacon Social Drinkery (Luminary Hotel & Co. in Fort Myers) — donated half of the evening’s sales to directly support of those impacted by the storm as part of a “Raise the Roof for Hurricane Ida Relief” event. They raised more than $7,000 for the American Red Cross, which is providing relief for people struggling with the aftermath of Hurricane Ida in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Texas, as well as hard-hit Northeastern states including New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.
“It came together fast, but we wanted to give our guests and neighbors a way to quickly and directly help those affected by Hurricane Ida,” said Joe Collier, President of Mainsail Lodging & Development.
Another Round Rally and Turning Tables also have set up a relief site to help the area’s hospitality and restaurant workers, who can fill out a grant application for funds, as well as help with temporary housing and job searches. While it’s not specific to Hurricane Ida relief, the Search Foundation, formed in 1997, offers grants specifically to help event, meetings and catering professionals faced with a life-threatening illness and other catastrophic occurrences.
New Orleans & Company, the city’s convention and visitors bureau, lists local, regional, national and international organizations that are offering help for those affected by Ida on its website. Among those they list for NOLA relief donations are:
Local New Orleans Hurricane Ida Relief
- Culture Aid NOLA
- House of Tulip
- Imagine Water Works
- El Pueblo NOLA – NOLA Village
- Little Woods Co-Op
- LowerNine.org
- Rebuilding Together
- Krewe of Red Beans
- Greater New Orleans Foundation
Regional, National and International Hurricane Ida Relief
- Second Harvest
- World Central Kitchen
- United Way of Southeast LA
- Louisiana Hospitality Foundation
- BayouFund.Org
Please note: While the organizations listed above have been vetted, it’s always a good idea to check a charity to make sure it’s legit before donating, as unfortunately disasters tend to bring out the scammers as well as those genuinely seeking to assist those in need. One site that can help is Charity Navigator, where you can plug in a charity name to help you make an informed decision.
Update: New Orleans & Company would like to emphasize that Ida was not a Katrina-level event for the city. The biggest challenge in New Orleans was power outages and as of September 13, 99% of power in the city has been restored and the city is quickly returning to normal. Updates are available at www.neworleans.com/updates. According to New Orleans & Company, “The best thing you can do to help our fellow Louisiana citizens is to plan, or keep, your visit this fall. Tourism is our largest economic driver, but more importantly, it is the essence of who we are and what we do.”
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