Nonprofit Spotlight: ACG Hand of Hope

Alvin Cain has always been an involved member of his community. As a Louisiana licensed realtor, Alvin participated in several “RED Days” (an acronym standing for Renew, Energize, Donate) across the Greater Baton Rouge, Louisiana metropolitan area while with Keller Williams Realty. These annual days of service inspired Alvin to take further action; while he derived great joy and saw the immense value in participating in RED Day, he felt as though there was more he could do to give back.In July of 2017 Alvin ventured out and started his own real estate company: ACG Realty in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. No longer having the convenience of a corporate planned day designated to participating in community service activities, he decided along with his agents Gregory Mark & Jonathan Caccamo to start “our” own. This led to the conceptualization of his own nonprofit: ACG Hands of Hope. With an emphasis on improving lives of children and underserved populations, ACG Hands of Hope’s mission is to provide relief from abandonment, hunger, natural disasters, and lack of family members to people in Louisiana. In doing so, Hands of Hope seeks to raise communities up to be stronger, healthier, and happier through donating to local organizations that strive to make Louisiana a better place to live.After coming up with the idea for starting a nonprofit in mid-September of 2017, Alvin officially incorporated the organization in October of 2017, and earned 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status through working with ExemptMeNow one month later, right in time for the organization’s first program: “A Memorable Thanksgiving with ACG Hands of Hope.” For this program, Hands of Hope partnered with the Livingwater Shelter in Baton Rouge to provide Thanksgiving meals for the homeless population that the shelter serves. It was an exciting start for the organization, but now Alvin is shifting gears to focus on growing and scaling Hands of Hope’s operations and programs for 2018 and beyond.It is a fundamental belief of Hands of Hope that holiday celebrations with family serve as building blocks in one’s childhood, and so the next program the organization hopes to launch will take place around Easter of 2018. The program will essentially mirror “A Memorable Thanksgiving Meal,” in that the organization will partner with another local shelter in Baton Rouge to provide meals to children and families in need. Other annual programs Hands of Hope plans to enact in 2018 include a holiday season toy drive and a back to school supplies drive. In the event of natural disaster, Hands of Hope is also budgeting for a food drive.To stay up to date with ACG Hands of Hope’s programs, events, and news, check out their website (which will be live in the coming weeks), Facebook, or email the organization at acghoh@gmail.com. We are excited to watch Hands of Hope continually uplift, inspire, and empower communities in Greater Baton Rouge and across Louisiana!