FreeMesa.org Background

The FreeMesa.org vision took shape when the founder, Brian Johnson, realized that even with all of our modern technology and infrastructure, going the last mile and distributing things to the people that need them is still a huge problem. This was demonstrated in a very big way when hurricane Katrina destroyed New Orleans, ruining lives, scattering families and their personal belongings.

In the midst of such destruction, there was a huge groundswell of support from around the country. People more than willing to help, and there were people who needed helping. However, this is where the problem began.

Aid organizations attempted to form a bridge between the people donating free money and free stuff to the people who needed help. However, despite the best intentions, building an efficient network in chaos, victims relocated nationwide, and opportunists attempting to defraud the system resulted in great waste, and worst of all some people fell through the cracks and never received the help that was so generously and willingly offered. There had to be a better way.

There were several reasons for the problems faced, but aside from the general chaos generated by the hurricane, the ad hoc nature of the temporary support network and the layers between the donations of free stuff and the needing recipients created opportunities for waste and graft. There was a very strong desire to help, and the resources were there. There was just no way to bridge the gap in an effective way. Too many people found themselves in a new city with no job, no money, and nothing to their name.

This need gave birth to the vision manifested as FreeMesa.org. FreeMesa would connect the people who have free stuff to give away directly to those who need them - directly at the grassroots level. There would be no cash to be stolen, no costly bureaucracy, no delays, no waste, and no loss of resources. All there would be is communities helping communities and people helping people. With this new system people could arrive in a new city and start over fresh. Their new neighbors could freecycle their old stuff into a new home and help the people start a new life quickly and easily by donating their old furniture and items that they were recycling anyway.

FreeMesa.org is a community based freecycling website, focused on creating venues for people to swap free stuff they no longer have a use for to and from their local communities.