WHAT WE DO
Love is ACTION
Action
is IMPACT
For The Love Of is a grassroots nonprofit founded & run by local performers and artists. We believe LOVE is an action word. The 3 major steps FTLO takes to show our communities we LOVE them are SUPPLY, SUPPORT, & CELEBRATE!
SUPPLY
Pop-Up Pantries
FTLO's Personal Hygiene Pantry runs 24/7 providing the 7th Ward with basic human needs to alleviate the cost of living. For more information click here.
We also assist with disaster relief. For more information click here.
We are building pop-up pantries across the greater New Orleans area that provide personal hygiene products, clothing, and resources for additional help.
SUPPORT
FTLO holds multiple events throughout the year highlighting other local nonprofits that have specialized focus missions to improve the lives of women, LGBTQIA+, and BIPOC communities.
For more information click here.
Our BYOB with Picolla Tushy series lifts the voices of performers, small business owners, and nonprofits.
For more information click here
CELEBRATE
FTLO's seasonal Plate Give-Aways give us a chance to hang out and to get to know our neighbors on a more personal level.
Our live and virtual shows showcase local performers and artists from all over the city. From burlesque to comedy to poetry and more, we know art is form of celebrating the human experience and brings communities closer.
To learn more click here
MEET OUR TEAM
DIRECTOR
Picolla Tushy (she/her)
Picolla Tushy is a burlesque performer and producer in New Orleans. After the election of 2016, Ms. Tushy decided to use her voice to raise money for and awareness of local and national nonprofits serving marginalized communities. Soon, Samuel Brantley would join her and together they would find For The Love Of. With the pandemic, Picolla and Sam both knew there was more work to be done and quickly built a Personal Hygiene Pop Up Pantry in the 7th Ward, which Ms. Tushy manages daily. Later in the year, For The Love Of decided to expand their efforts again and have begun doing plate giveaways for the community and neighbors. Picolla strongly believes art is a tool that can be used to heal, to create, and to fight against injustice. She is incredibly grateful for the love and support she receives from her partner, the Board of Directors, and the ever-growing FTLO family.
PRESIDENT
Dartanya Croff (she/ her)
Dartanya Lorraine Croff (she/her) is a proud native of Flint, MI. Growing up in a household where creative expression was explored and no idea was ever turned down. In a city like Flint, being an artist comes naturally. Much like New Orleans, Flint is a fighter. At a young age Dartanya knew that singing would always be her first love yet like the arts, you can never have too many connections. From Fa la las to "To Be or Not To Be... That is the question" getting her BFA in Performing Arts Focused in Acting, to Single crochet double crochet Banana Skirts "Thank you Josephine" and Oranges and Honey sprinkled with Cinnamon just the way Oshun likes it... Baby we in Paris now FOREVER... To just being happy with saying out loud for the world to see, feel, and hear, "I AM A CROCHET FIBER ARTIST". This is Dartanya. She is me.
Often times people would ask why she never followed the crowd, to which she would say,
"I dance to the beat of my own Djembe."
ASÉ
VICE PRESIDENT
Brandie Litrenta
(she/her)
Brandie Litrenta has been a resident of New Orleans intermittently since 2006. She is a Legal Assistant at a local law firm and part-time bartender at Bar Redux in the Bywater. She has been an active audience member and continues to support the burlesque and artistic communities. As a mother of a trans son, she heavily advocates for education and resources for our trans youth. After volunteering with her husband at our Thanksgiving Plate Giveaway she was inspired to step up and continue efforts to provide support for our organization. She plans on using her administrative and marketing skills to advance our mission in raising awareness of non-profit organizations via the performing arts.
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SECRETARY
Mariana Santiago
(she/her)
Mariana Santiago is a theatermaker based in New Orleans, Louisiana. Her work has appeared in several local theater festivals. She's honored to be a member of the board of FTLO and for the opportunity to work at the intersection of two of her favorite things: the performing arts and social justice.
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TREASURER
Jarrod Broussard
(he/him)
I am a profound and imaginative thinker, a socially engaged
extrovert, a certified technophile, a passionate wisdom and truth
seeker, and a decisive "make it happen" entrepreneur. I am goal-
oriented and plan-driven to build cash flow and wealth opportunities
for myself and my equity and investment partners. I seek to
make a difference in the lives of others by sharing knowledge
and experience and when appropriate, by creating value through
opportunity.
Specialties: Evaluation and purchase of real estate. Unconventional
project financing. Real estate and business decision modeling and
sale/purchase consulting. Extensive analysis in real estate markets,
trends, and opportunities. Small business advisory board and
business mentoring experience. Expert knowledge of computers,
Internet technology, and brick-and-mortar logistics management.
Extensive experience in network marketing and social networking.
Exemplary writing and communication skills.
VOLUNTEER
Joaquin Emiliano
(he/him)
Joaquin Emiliano is a thrice published Random House author. As with most of his relationships, he bravely walked away from the corrupt publishing industry shortly after it had already walked out on him. He now digitally self-publishes (not as hot as it sounds) through smashwords.com, and will be in print someday, maybe, who the hell even knows anymore? Having been priced out of his hometown in North Carolina, Joaquin has been staying alive in New Orleans for just shy of eight years... holy shit, really? He is (was? will be again?) a regular reader with Toby O'Brien Presents Music & Poetry, a regular performer with Picolla Tushy Presents The Bluestockings, and has been contributing to For The Love Of for over three years. He is the winner of the Joaquin Emiliano Semi-Endowment Prize for hottest Joaquin Emiliano in the northwest territory of his house. For those who wish to see him bare more than his soul, Joaquin also moonlights as a burlesque performer under the moniker Lucky Strikeout. He has written burlesque plays for Honey Tangerine Productions, Dick Jones, and The Gaslight Girls. He is also the co-editor for Cece Dynamite's E-Zine, Tangerine Zine.
GRANT RESEARCH
Mike Marina
(he/him)
Mike Marina is a talented jack of all trades. As an award winning chef, poet, and librarian, you can see him on stage at Esoterotica, competing on Food Network’s Guys Grocery Games, or hosting different food pop ups around the city. Granted, his favorite artistic pastime is poetry. He co-authored the Fringe show Beyond Desire and has been featured in the Esoterotica anthology Enflame and the upcoming Poetry Buffet Anthology. When he isn't cooking, writing or performing, you can see him dancing in Paul Mccartney’s music video Come On To Me #TeamFred.
To follow more of his creative endeavors follow him on instagram @chefmikemarina or his facebook page
GRANT
RESEARCH
Samuel Brantley
(he/him)
Samuel is an accountant with a small New Orleans CPA firm that specializes in non-profit accounting and audits. He is also a writer, spoken word performer, and filmmaker. He also happens to be a co-founder of For The Love Of.
BURLESQUE
COORDINATOR
Dick Jones
(they/them)
Dick Jones has been hustling their wares and promoting local activism for over 6 years in New Orleans. Nightlife producer and entertainer, petcare provider, purveyor of Sexy Meatballs -- they are truly a jack of all trades. Dick is proud to have been involved with For the Love Of since its inception and is honored to be a part of the team.
OUR HISTORY
About Us: For The Love Of is a small New Orleans nonprofit and production company with a mission to help local and national communities that are too often marginalized, unheard, and/or discriminated against. Prior to Covid-19 and quarantine, we fulfilled our mission by producing LIVE shows featuring local comedians, poets, storytellers, musicians, and drag & burlesque performers while dedicating the shows and donating monies collected to local/national non-profits. When it was possible, we invited guest speakers from those non-profits to share their message and mission. Throughout the years, we have raised money for and awareness of non-profits such as STAR – Sexual Trauma Awareness & Response, LIFT Louisiana, and the LGBT Community center, to name a few.
However, due to Covid 19 and not being able to produce live shows we’ve had the opportunity to reflect and grow.
In 2020, we moved our fundraising events to the internet!
These virtual shows allowed us to cast performers from all over the country, run our campaigns for a week, and broadcast all over the country and world. Our two events (one for Women With A Vision, Inc and one for House Of Tulip) raised over a $1000 combined.
Inspired by New Orleans Community Fridges, FTLO has started a Personal Hygiene Pop-up Pantry located on Marais & Annette, in the 7th Ward.
In 2020, we also had our first Thanksgiving Plate Give-Away.
In 2021, we provided hurricane relief for the 7th Ward, GNO area, and beyond by collecting and distributing physical donations, providing charging stations, and cooking for our neighbors and community fridges. And we received our official 501c3 status.
In 2022, we assisted with tornado relief in New Orleans and hurricane relief in South Florida.
We hope to build more pantries in New Orleans and expand our mission throughout the country.
Since 2017, we have raised over $14,000 for local and nation nonprofits!
Since 2020, we have raised and redistributed over $35,000 in physical and monetary donations for our pantry and storm relief!
Love is ACTION. Action is IMPACT!
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#ProWomen #ProBIPOC #ProLGBTQ+ #ProArtists #ProPerformers