New Website Links LOU Community to Local Nonprofits When Help is Needed

By Alyssa Schnugg

News editor

alyssa.schnugg@hottytoddy.com

A Leadership Lafayette group has partnered with the United Way of Oxford to create a website that will be a central hub to locate non-profits in the Lafayette-Oxford-University area.

“This has been an eight-month-long project that we have passionately been working on during our time with Leadership Lafayette,” said Rachel Isbell with RE/Max Legacy who is part of the Leadership Lafayette team who devised the website.

On the Oxfordmscares.com website, users will be able to find resources related to local food pantries, medical assistance programs, housing assistance, legal assistance, and more.

Non-profits that are not currently listed can add their information and be added to the website, which is a great way for a non-profit to get their info out and for ALL non-profit info to be located in one location, Isbell said.

The Leadership Lafayette team will continue to help grow the website through August when the United Way of Oxford will take over running the website.

The website also serves as a place for people wishing to volunteer to see possible opportunities as well as those wishing to make financial donations to local charities. The website also connects volunteers with Stronger Together Oxford – the city-run volunteer hub.

“Our main focus is to be a resource to those in need who perhaps don’t realize the resources that we do have here in Oxford,” Isbell said. “We are hoping those who need services will go to our website hub and find the non-profit that can help them.”

Leadership Lafayette is a program for aspiring leaders throughout the community who are seeking the best ways to serve here in Oxford. The individuals are placed in groups and then they work on projects to establish something positive in the LOU community.

“It is an eight-month commitment that truly grows your knowledge of the Lafayette-Oxford-University dynamics, your love for the diverse community which we live in, and the joy of working with your fellow class members to complete a meaningful project,” Isbell said.

Isbell said the group’s goal is to see the website continue to grow over the years ahead, making it the go-to site for people searching for available resources and local nonprofits.

Along with Isbell, members of the Lafayette Lafayette group who established the website include:

• Sydney Fields (Recruiter, Service Specialists)
• Matthew DeLoach (Ole Miss)
• Josh Ferguson (Oxford Fire Dept)
• Nyterica Jenkins (Ole Miss)
• Detric Doolittle (NNMRC)

For more information or to find local services and nonprofits, or to register your nonprofit on the site, visit oxfordmscares.com.