Relief Spark was founded by Marketing Consultant Sidney Ray in Los Angeles, CA on September 1, 2005. Outside at a makeshift, outdoor collection center, she and her team collected an estimated $3M in supplies (food, water, clothing, school supplies, infant/toddler supplies, etc.) and shipped out a total of 814 pallets on 54 donated semi trucks. The collective relief efforts were one of the largest in the country at the time.

.Today Relief Spark operate as an organization that assists public and charter schools in New Orleans and surrounding areas. We offer remodeling and general maintenance as well as gardening, landscaping, tutoring and career counseling.

Our team and project sites can handle up to 150 volunteers at a time and our average group size is 20 per week. We are most active over Winter and Spring Break and the average age of our volunteer is 20 (although we accept all ages).

Sidney Ray, who is the Founder of Relief Spark, still manages and works with volunteers from all around the world. She is joined with a local team that assist in the areas of project leadership, transportation, meal delivery and event management.

To read about our startup story and Founder, please click here.