Julie Thomas | Director of Project Outreach
New Leader
in Naples
by Felicity Geiranger
Naples Noteworthy picked Julie Thomas, Director of Project Outreach, as the second feature for our July launch issue, and Thomas is also our pick for the Best New Leader in Naples, Florida.
We picked Thomas because of her work in Project Outreach, an
organization that is quickly becoming the central hub for matching physical donations with needs in the Naples community. This
is an organization you need to know about, if you don't already.
What it's doing in Collier County is nothing short of astonishing.
It's heartwarming and encouraging to see the good people can do
when they come together.
Project Outreach is a live, ongoing demonstration of people ready
and willing to lend a helping hand, fueled by the powerful networks of today's social media. But it's more than that. The organization simply has a special anointing on it to bring help--and
hope--to people in our community in a way that defies explanation.
Something divinely peculiar is going on.
Here's how it works. A need is voiced at the network, which is the
Project Outreach Group on Facebook.
For instance, someone may need a refrigerator, or a new bed.
Maybe a family needs help because a parent is terminally ill and
they need people to step in and help provide meals and other assistance for the family. In one case, a family lost everything in a
fire. In another case, a man's wife died at childbirth, leaving him
to care for the newborn baby.
Usually within hours the need is met.
Naples Noteworthy asked how that was possible.
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"It's God," Thomas explained. "Nothing else could account for
how quickly these needs are being met or how fast this network
has grown. From the very beginning, God's hand has been on
this."
Angie Meister, the daughter of Julie Thomas, is the founder of
Project Outreach. She knew she wanted to do something to help
those in need in the Naples community. The family rallied around
Angie and embraced the idea, taking it from a grassroots organization to where it is today.
Project Outreach initially focused on doing events in the community to teach others the selfless sense of serving.
For instance, every year, they invite volunteers to the Immokalee
Friendship House for Thanksgiving to help clean the house and
make and serve dinner. Volunteers who join the network learn
what it feels like to serve selflessly helping others.
The Facebook Group has been a key element for communication
and rallying support. It's how Project Outreach has been able to
find out about people in need and organize a response to help
them. As one need after another began to be met, people started
stepping up with donations--beds, furniture, refrigerators--and
that's when a warehouse in which to store items became necessary.
Once again, people stepped in to help. The Hardy family, which
owns TollGate Commerce Center, heard about what Project Outreach was doing and generously donated the air-conditioned
warehouse space.