Volunteer For a Good Cause!

Yesterday, Susan, Behn and I ventured out to the Second Harvest Food Bank in Harahan for a tour of the Community Kitchen and warehouse. Of course I managed to take the longest route possible, as Jefferson Highway has red lights on practically every corner. Once I finally made it to Harahan, I somehow managed to get lost despite having spent the last 24 years of my life in this fine city. After countless phone calls to Behn and Susan for directions, my panic was relieved as the “Second Harvest Food Bank” sign came into sight. I cheerfully made my way into the building and located the rest of my group. Our very helpful tour guide, Linzy, informed us that she once worked at Keating Magee! She gave us a tour of the Exhibition Kitchen, which will be used to host taste tests, as well as demonstrations of nutrition programs. We were told that the kitchen was still under construction; however, it already looked great! The warehouse containing all of the food was very impressive. We were blown away by the huge refrigerators and freezers used to store bananas, potatoes and other nutritious food that is provided to those in need.

Volunteers are extremely valuable to the Food Bank, as 9000 volunteers per year equate to 13 full time paid staff members! Since volunteers are crucial to Second Harvest, everyone reading this should go out and volunteer today! The Second Harvest Food Bank is a wonderful necessity in New Orleans, and I look forward to working with them in the months to come!

FORE!...a good cause (PART 1)

If you're following this blog, you may wonder why it may have seemed as though we have dropped off the face of the earth the past month or so. Three words: Unitedhealthcare Children's Foundation.

The foundation supports an admirable cause: aiding children whose conditions are not covered by their healthcare plans. Healthcare being the hot topic in the past year, we saw an immense amount of support towards the Foundation as we crafted a fundraiser event. Keating Magee helped The Unitedhealthcare Children's Foundation put on golf tournament fundraiser in both Mississippi and Louisiana.

The responsibility of soliciting donations for the auction fell in my lap. That being said, I have quite literally been eating, breathing and sleeping for this fundraiser event.

My competitive nature caused for a blur to set in over the line of my work hours. This being my senior year, I have learned the ways of effective scheduling and my first class of the day starts at 11 AM. However, during this period of my life--which I like to refer to as my "Donation Addiction"--I was not able to enjoy this privilege of sleeping in. 8:05 AM would hit and suddenly the alarming Irish Fight song ringtone would flood the room and my phone would nearly vibrate off the night stand. I look at my phone and do not recognize the number: it's a potential donor--I'm sure of it. I have 5 seconds to emerge from my drowsy state, answer the phone and be ready to pitch our request.

TIPS FOR MAKING SUCCESSFUL COLD CALLS
-New Orleans businesses truly value supporting local causes and local businesses. I by no means have a New Jersey accent (and thank the forces every day this is so), but it was interesting to see how much warmer the business contacts were once I used the term "ya'll" in our conversations. This gave off the impression that they were dealing with a local and helped me to successfully land certain donation items, such as the generous donation of a $100 gift certificate to any of the Emeril's restaurants.

-Don't be a robot--reciting lines as you go down your cold call list is subtle but apparent to the person on the other line. Immediately they tune out your message and lock into their stance being a firm "No". You want to be familiar with the facts of your request, and still maintain a high level of professionalism while making the call--but make sure you go into each call with a personal touch. Make them feel like it is their business and only their business that you need this donation from. I had a high success rate on the last days of my deadline to collect, and I can attribute this to the sincere hint of desperation that went into my calls.