Fred Hampton Free Store marks one-year anniversary with party
29th April 2024 · 0 Comments
By Roshaun Higgins
Contributing Writer
(Veritenews.org) — For the past year, a “free store” in the Lower 9th Ward has stocked shelves of food, clothing, toiletries, books and menstrual products – all available for visitors to take at no charge.
The Fred Hampton Free Store, located at 5523 St. Claude Ave. in a former Family Dollar building, takes donations of items people no longer need and offers them to those who do need them. The store, operated by the nonprofit GNO Caring Collective, also partners with Trystereo, a volunteer-run harm reduction group that offers medical services for people with drug abuse issues.
It was on April 19, the GNO Caring Collective celebrated the Free Store’s first anniversary with an all-ages family variety show, followed by several DJ sets. The anniversary event was also a fundraiser for Trystereo and the Palestinian Children Relief Fund, raising close to $2,000.
During the all-ages portion of the event, the audience was mostly composed of families, with many of the youth performing in a variety show that included dancing, roller skating and poetry. In addition to the show, there was face painting, a clothing market and an animal drawing station.
“I thought it was really fun and I was really excited that they had an all-ages portion for the night so I could bring my sister,” said attendee Riley Marsh. “The coloring and the variety show were great ways to have it be an all-ages event.”
The store’s shelves were set aside to make way for seating in front of the stage. Roller skates were also provided for performers and those who wanted them.
“I cry tears of joy whenever there’s another event here,” said Dan Bingler, founder of the GNO Caring Collective. “There’s an amazing energy in this space every week with every new adventure we have with different events and different parts of the community coming in.”
The collective, which was founded in 2020 to provide aid to New Orleanians affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, opened the Fred Hampton Free Store – named for a prominent Chicago-based Black Panther Party official who was killed by police in 1969, and the free breakfast program the Black Panther Party ran — in April 2023 to extend its mutual aid mission.
The GNO Caring Collective also offers the space to other local nonprofits to hold fundraisers and community events for a small fee, such as the Apocalypse Ball in February, which raised money for the Louisiana Himalaya Association. Holding those events helps the GNO Caring Collective raise money for the store’s maintenance costs.
The building was vacant for two years before the GNO Caring Collective struck a deal with the landlord to lease the space. The area, which was devastated by flooding after Hurricane Katrina, has few businesses other than convenience stores. The closest grocery store, Canseco’s, is in Arabi.
The GNO Caring Collective began in March of 2020 with volunteers delivering food supplies and premade meals to people during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as picking up and clothes for laundry services. The collective aimed to help those who were historically underprivileged.
“It blew up. I set up a local phone number and people kept calling and let me know they needed things,” Bingler said. “Two months later, we were doing 18,000 pounds of groceries every week, weekly ongoing emotional care and support to 1,050 families in every ZIP code in the greater New Orleans area. I never could have foreseen it.”
Though the collective scaled down its work after COVID-19 restrictions were relaxed, the group mobilized once again to deliver supplies to community groups in and around New Orleans when Hurricane Ida struck.
“During Katrina, we didn’t have anybody here except for our neighbors,” said Nikki Brown, who manages events at the free store. “That’s the continuing energy behind this place. We are here to be supportive and in solidarity to help all of us keep going.”
The Fred Hampton Free Store is open every Monday from 5 to 7 p.m. The store also hosts a skate night every Wednesday from 4 to 9 p.m. Every other Saturday starting April 27, the store will also start hosting “Amplified Youth: High School Sessions,” for high schoolers in bands to practice and play in front of an audience.
This article originally published in the April 29, 2024 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.
