While former New Orleans Saints running back Deuce McAllister is a Mississippi native, he’s engrained himself in the local community since they selected him in the first round of the 2001 NFL draft. The once all-time rushing leader for the Saints – eclipsed by Mark Ingram this past season – is remembered for his impact on the field. But his legacy lies in his work behind the scenes, much like several players from the team hit by Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Despite retiring over 10 years ago, McAllister continues his local efforts in launching a new fundraising platform with founder and president Jason White, FRYP – Your Best Friend for Fund Raising.
When reading back stories detailing the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina as witnessed by those Saints players, what stuck out about McAllister was his indelible memory of the people. The Saints’ team cook searching for a lost relative, the volunteers at a local church, Red Cross workers he worked alongside, volunteers and staff at the airport housing evacuees. Oftentimes, the true heroes are those working seamlessly behind the scenes, on the front line of a crisis, and most recently, amid the pandemic. The hospitality industry is perhaps misunderstood or underappreciated; to co-founder McAllister, they are the exact type of people their platform intends to lift up.
“You look at some of the things they’ve been through over the last couple of years,” McAllister told me. “When you talk about the shutdown with COVID, losing business, and having to adjust. I think just to be able to highlight them, and their businesses or franchises that are part of the Hospitality Foundation, it was a good fit for us to grow, make sure that we’re doing it the right way.”
They partnered with Louisiana Hospitality Foundation to launch their first campaign at the end of January, an organization McAllister has supported throughout the years. He explained that while their company name is FRYP, their branding is purpose. That purpose focuses on these organizations’ most challenging yet critical aspect: fundraising. We likely all have some familiarity with the logistical nightmare fundraising can be – even something as simple as a bake sale. From baking and supplying the goods to organizing the event, assembling available volunteers, fronting costs, and handling the funds thereafter. FRYP eliminates these difficulties for foundations while simultaneously bolstering small, local businesses that are equally hurting in these times.
“It was really the opportunity to give individuals who have to fundraise, in difficult times, another avenue of a platform to use,” McAllister continued, “I think one of the unique things about us is you can download the app – on Android or iPhone technology. But you can go to the website as well. And just being able to look it up, you have a unique code you give to people in the organization. They basically can order whatever product that we have available.”
Those current products are supplied by New Orleans Roast Coffee and Buttermilk Drop Bakery. Two local businesses, a sector hit equally hard by the pandemic these past few years and those with a partnership with Louisiana Hospital Foundation. Equally important to their brand of purpose is to lift the New Orleans community. White has worked in the New Orleans hospitality world for 20 years and brings tremendous experience and the necessary relationships to make this a successful launch. Everyone and their mother in Louisiana know who Deuce McAllister is. That dual influence is invaluable to the small businesses their platform helps support.
“A lot of times it may be, ‘Hey, look, we don’t have the reach, we don’t have the marking ability,’” McAllister explained. “To be able to help them with that reach, maybe get in front of a different group that normally would not see or feature them, that’s exactly what it’s about. At some point, we’ll go regional. At some point, we will be national, but we want to stay local right now. But from a shipping standpoint, we’ve shipped to Florida, Detroit, and Mississippi. People want New Orleans or Louisiana products. Now, they have a way to support an organization and get the product that they want. That’s how it’s unfolding for us.”
Here’s how it works: you download the app (which I did before our conversation and found it immediately intuitive) or visit their website. Caffeine lovers can select from an array of coffee bags, and those with a sweet tooth pick up some donut drops. In one simple purchase, you’re supporting three entities at once. FRYP handles everything as the middleman, organizations and local businesses receive those funds, and the consumer receives a fresh product they can order across the country.
While the long-term vision is to expand nationally and have various products, McAllister and White want to ensure they launch their platform carefully and correctly. Perishable items are shipped across the country regularly, but typically from national entities. Logistics that local businesses would normally find insurmountable are all handled by McAllister and White. They take care of the packaging, ensuring the freshness of perishable products, shipping, and most importantly – the cost of all those burdens.
“We handle it one hundred percent – and you have to get creative with it. If it says it will get there the next day, it will get there the next day regardless of price. We pride ourselves on that, and it’s always a challenge. The biggest thing for us is if we’re going to have perishable products, we want to make sure it’s fresh so that people enjoy them and don’t have a bad experience. That’s what we want to sell as well. So once that product gets there, not only are they going to enjoy it that time, but they know they’ll enjoy it again if they place that order once more.”
While the Hospitality Foundation is their primary focus in launching, as organizations add themselves to the platform, each will get that unique code to provide to individuals wanting to support them specifically. The easiest part for consumers is that all companies can use the same products. That’s also the challenge for the platform founders in their eventual expansion.
“On the back-office side, we have an algorithm that takes care of that to ensure that this person has their unique code for this organization. Some of that on our end is making sure that nothing gets mixed up. From a funding standpoint, the most important piece is that the right organization gets those funds from the person who got their code. That was probably one of the things that took the most time.”
“If I have multiple companies, and there wasn’t a unique code, then okay, what company gets those funds?” McAllister added. “Let’s use Tulane as an example. They have a fundraiser, and they will send you a specific code. You would enter that code on the app to purchase the products, so Tulane gets all its proceeds. People can buy the products without supporting an organization without a specific code. They don’t have to – they can buy the product. But if they’re supporting and donating to a certain organization, then their organization has a specific code they’re using to receive the funds.”
If one was to buy products without that code, McAllister and White plan to donate quarterly or annually those leftover funds to an organization. In addition to handling all the shipping costs. Packaging and shipping fresh products. Distributing the funds to overwhelmed and underfunded organizations. The mental load alone that the co-founders are shouldering makes a critical difference.
Over the years, the Saints – particularly players from the 2005-06 seasons – have taught fans lessons in resilience and bolstering the local community. When I asked how we can best help support McAllister and White’s efforts, it’s as simple as spreading the word and promoting their brand of purpose. For those interested in registering their organization to fundraise through FRYP, you can visit their website or contact Jason White at Jasonw@fryp.us, and Louisiana Hospital Foundation Executive Director, Jamie Hall, at jamie@louisianahospitality.org.
