New Orleans: Labor of Love

New Orleans: A Labor of Love is a grass-roots, multi-media, public awareness campaign to mobilize 5,000 volunteers to participate in reconstructing the city during 2008. Awareness about the city’s ongoing need for volunteers is being created through screenings and videocasts of the New Orleans: A Labor of Love documentary, which follows 18 Los Angeles Valley College students during their recent volunteering experience.

Katina Parker (pictured above) is the director of NOLA. Many of you may know Katina from her work as the People of Color Media Manager for GLAAD, but she has also worked extensively as a writer, producer, and photographer. Earlier this year, Katina’s short Radimi: Who Stole the Dream debuted on BETJ. The film features Mehcad Brooks, formerly of Desperate Housewives. She holds an MFA from the University of Southern California and a BA from Wake Forest University.

This fall, New Orleans: A Labor of Love will screen at colleges, universities, community centers and churches, where volunteers will be recruited on site. It will also be edited for web distribution at www.nolaboroflove.com. On the website potential volunteers will be able to connect with information about lodging, banking, transportation, and other necessary travel details provided by veteran volunteers and relief effort organizers.

People are needed to gut and build homes and help fill out paperwork for elderly/disabled people; lawyers are needed to assist the many people who have been defrauded by shady contractors; engineers are needed to advise on rebuilding; medical professionals are needed to assist with general and emergency care; educators are needed to re-staff the schools. Whatever skill set you have, you can bet that it is needed in New Orleans.

For more information on how you can volunteer to participate in re-building New Orleans click here . Check out the trailer for this amazing project here .