Outreach Tulane, Tulane University’s oldest and largest community service event, will be held for the 31st year on Aug. 28. Partnering with 23 local New Orleans nonprofit organizations, volunteers this year will participate in-person with the New Orleans community.

“I am really excited to be able to go back out into the community again,” Outreach Tulane Chair Mollie Sloter said. “While we were able to put on a fantastic Outreach Tulane last year, we unfortunately had to stay on campus due to all of the COVID restrictions. This year, however, we are allowed to go back out into the community and work on site at the organizations.”

Outreach Tulane is run by a board of 11 Tulane students who work closely with Maurice Smith in the Center for Public Service. They have been working together since April to ensure Outreach Tulane runs smoothly this year. 

The executive board of Outreach Tulane is composed of students working as community partners coordinators, project coordinators, a donations team, a public relations and marketing team and a logistics team. Each section of the board has worked with various departments — both on Tulane’s campus and in the community  — to make sure Outreach is held in a beneficial way.

“It is definitely a team effort and I am so thankful to have had such a fantastic group of people to work with,” Sloter said.

Sloter hopes, through Outreach, students are able to see the importance of serving the New Orleans community and to expand outside of the ‘Tulane bubble.’

“We are very lucky to get to go to school here and experience the really awesome culture that exists throughout New Orleans,” Sloter said. “With this, it is also our responsibility to give back and make sure that we help take care of the city as well. During Outreach, students get the opportunity to see outside of Uptown and better experience the rest of New Orleans.”

Community partners have found 23 local nonprofits to work with. According to Sloter, Outreach Tulane will work with multiple schools, New Orleans’ City Park and Glass Half Full.

Sloter said that she hopes that Outreach Tulane will show students that New Orleans is a vibrant community and that Tulane students have a responsibility to give back to the place we chose to live in. 

“I think that a lot of people come to Tulane not realizing how special it is to get to live in New Orleans,” Sloter said. “I hope that by getting to interact with community members students gain an appreciation of the history and uniqueness of where they are getting to live.”31