After 35 years in the military, with tours in both Vietnam and Iraq, Robert Bookman is still serving others, and he’s thankful for the chance to do so. Today, that means volunteering four days a week packing nonperishable food items for those in need at the Giving Hope NOLA food pantry.
“My first time coming here was two years ago with my church group, New Zion Baptist Church,” said Bookman, 74, who served as an Army combat engineer in Vietnam and then as a combat medic in the National Guard. “There is just something about being here and giving of my time that seems right. It’s my way to serve the poor and serve the Lord, who has been so good to me.”
Bookman is one of many area residents who volunteer at the food pantry, located at 13040 Interstate 10 Service Road in New Orleans.
Although it will be closed on Thanksgiving Day, it will be providing hot meals throughout that week as well as food boxes for the holiday.
Robert Bookman helps an Orleans Parish resident with a food box at Giving Hope NOLA.
Betty Thomas has been chief operating officer and director at the pantry since it opened 10 years ago. “The number of people we serve continues to grow due to inflation,” she added. “Severe changes have caused disruptions in people’s lives, such as several disasters and the pandemic, so people constantly must start over. And we continue to see people we never served before due to economic disadvantages.”
Opened in 2013 after Toyota of New Orleans transformed the building into a soup kitchen, the facility now provides both grocery boxes of nonperishable food and one hot meal five days a week to senior citizens and families in Orleans and Jefferson Parishes.
A second location in Marrero opened in 2021.
A food recipient rolls a cart of groceries away.
Those needing assistance must provide proof of Louisiana residency such as a utility bill or a lease showing a home address, and proof of income such as a Social Security, disability income or a pay stub.
In addition to the food pantry, Giving Hope NOLA, founded by Troy and Tracy Duhon, supports other programs, too:
- Giving Hope Retreat Center provides rescue, recovery and re-engagement for men and women of the New Orleans Mission who suffer from addiction, mental illness and physical or sexual abuse.
- The Giving Hope Community Center partners with Thrive New Orleans in the Desire neighborhood offering after-school programs, a wellness center and a summer camp.
- Hope House has funded and constructed orphanages in several countries including India, Honduras, Gambia, Russia and Brazil.
Alphonse Smith, Giving Hope NOLA executive director, said the pantries see “poverty rates that are higher than any other communities in the state.”
Volunteer Anita Madison helps unpack donated food items for distribution.
“New Orleans, for example, is ranked second among U.S. cities for food insecurity, with nearly 1 in 5 residents unable to consistently secure enough food to eat,” Smith said. According to 2021 data, Orleans Parish’s food insecurity rate is 50% higher than the U.S. average.
“In most of New Orleans East, poverty rates are even higher than the rest of the city, which had a poverty rate of 24.8% in 2020,” Smith added. “Approximately half of these households we serve have minor children.”
The food pantry provides over 320,000 hot meals to low-income seniors and over 7.2 million pounds of groceries to low-income families every year. In 2022, Smith said, 17,614 people in Marrero and 21,286 in New Orleans received help from the food pantries.
Giving Hope NOLA Chief of operations Betty Thomas at work in the distribution center of Giving Hope NOLA.
“I don’t believe people struggling with food insecurity should exist,” Thomas said. “We are the richest country in the world and yet there is so much hunger. That doesn’t make sense to me. We all should be embarrassed.”
Donations to the food pantry come from individual and corporate funding, grants, partnerships and in-kind donations. And the help of volunteers, Thomas said, is very important.
“This work could not be done without all of our volunteers,” she said. “We are a small nonprofit doing great work. We always pray to God to provide the help we need to get the work done.”
On Nov. 4, Giving Hope NOLA held its annual fundraiser at the Hyatt Regency in New Orleans. The event raised over $750,000. The proceeds will be shared with the food pantry as well as other programs and services of Giving Hope NOLA.
Odessa Robinson helps Patricia Jones with her cart as she picks up food at Giving Hope NOLA.
“The money is very important to all of our other programs,” Smith said. “Without the community’s support, we would not be able to assist the more than 38,000 food insecure families we serve locally, the over 1,100 seniors and children we assist through the hot meals program, and the hundreds of other men, women, and children we help.”
Bookman said that this Thanksgiving, he’s grateful for “so many things — my good health, my wife, Joann, and my three children.” And he hopes others will find some extra time to serve those in need.
“Helping people is what keeps me going,” Bookman said. “And if others would volunteer, it would keep them going, too.”
Hours at the New Orleans east pantry, at 13040 I-10 Service Road, are Tuesdays through Fridays from 7 a.m. to 11 a.m., and Saturdays from 9 a.m. to noon.
In Marrero, at 5151 Lapalco Blvd., hours are Mondays and Wednesdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
