For over 7 years, Austin Allies has been supporting nearly 100 local nonprofits through donating materials, volunteer hours, home-cooked meals and support where needed.
For over 7 years, Austin Allies has been supporting nearly 100 local nonprofits through donating materials, volunteer hours, home-cooked meals and support where needed.
The idea for Austin Allies stemmed in 2016, when a group of three mothers sat around their kitchen table with their children, looking at the state of the world and hoped to make a change. They saw firsthand the need for more positivity and acts of kindness in the world and began to do that on a local level. They first began by volunteering their time at various organizations in Austin, but had to make a pivot in March of 2020 when the pandemic affected their ability to volunteer in person. This is where their #HelpingFromHome program began. The mission of their #HelpingFromHome program began as a way to support nonprofits from home while it was unsafe to be in person. This program offers a way for children and families to get involved with volunteer work together, encouraging children to give back at a young age. “Our impact has provided more than 900 families the opportunity to meaningfully volunteer with nearly 100 local nonprofits and those they serve.” Says Founder and Executive Director Erika Nowlin.
The program has now grown into one that combines work that can be done from home with work that can be done out in the community such as serving our local Veterans sweet treats and handmade cards at the VA, creating encouraging cards and posters for Moms at Austin Recovery and providing hot, home-cooked meals to Foundation Communities each week. In addition to the work they do at home, they continue to volunteer in person where needed for nearly 100 local organizations and have done 6,442 volunteer hours of volunteer work in 2023 alone in areas of food insecurity, infant needs, aging populations, animals, mental health, substance issues, literacy, homelessness, Veterans, foster care, environment, medical needs, domestic violence, arts, and more with a value of $204,855 given back to our community.
Austin Allies also created a program called “Austin Allies Book Club” over 6 years ago. The book club serves as an initiative to introduce children to diverse authors and stories with the goal of helping children gain empathy and understanding one book at a time. They have partnered with local bookstore BookPeople for the past 6 years and local online community Bookopolis for the past 2 years to host monthly Kids’ Book Club meetings for children and families. Not only does this broaden children’s exposure to different literature and experiences, it also fosters a sense of community by bringing families together.
Austin Allies collects private and corporate donations and holds two community events (Holiday Helpers in December and Allies Fest in the Spring) to raise funds. These funds are used for office expenses so that they can continue to plan hundreds of events and activities each year that benefit our community as well as purchasing goods and needed items that go directly to their nonprofit partners. They truly work as a unique bridge and supportive infrastructure between the needs of our local nonprofit organizations and families looking to serve the community together.
