Recycling Mardi Gras Beads at Arc 2013

A couple of years ago, I spent a day sorting Mardi Gras beads at  Arc of Greater New Orleans. Arc  provides services and employment for people of all ages with Intellectual Disabilities (ID). I first became aware of the ID community when I was 5. My 2 year old friend Sarah was born with Down’s Syndrome. She couldn’t walk or talk yet and her tongue was always dry from keeping her mouth perpetually open (mostly for smiling) but she was one of the sweetest people I’d ever met and I loved her. In high school, I was a hugger for the Special Olympics

Favorite Things in NOLA 2011

I continue to accumulate favorite things about New Orleans, but here’s my second year favorites in a nutshell. Anything named previously in my Favorite Things in NOLA 2010 is marked with an Asterix*. Though there are too many “ties,” revealing an inability to “just pick one,” I promise you there were so many more things I wanted to include, so many more people and places I felt deserved mentioning.

Recycling Mardi Gras Beads at Arc

When I was 5, I became friends with Sarah, a tot with Down’s Syndrome. She couldn’t speak and her tongue was always dry from keeping her mouth perpetually open (mostly from smiling) but she was as kind as they come and I loved her. Throughout my life, I’ve involved myself in the Intellectual Disabilities (ID) community in various ways, from working with the Special Olympics to getting a Best Buddy in L.A., so when it became clear that the best way to have lunch with my friend, singer Margie Perez ,was to volunteer for Arc of Greater New Orleans, I was thrilled.