By Sonia Schnee | Posted Monday, September 23, 2019
Have you ever known someone who has experienced a tragedy, or maybe is recovering from a surgery, or just simply could use a helping hand? Have you ever wanted to step in and help them, but weren’t sure what was the “right” thing to do? Meet Elisa Udaskin. Elisa is the Founder and CEO of Caring Organizer, a website that lets friends, family, and strangers coordinate schedules so they can send meals to those in need.
What’s your name and where are you from?
My name is Elisa Udaskin. I'm originally from Toronto, Canada. I was working for Kraft Foods. They moved us to New Jersey 11 years ago. I didn't really know anything about New Jersey, and I was just amazed by how beautiful it is. I moved to Morristown, and I was just amazed by the trees and the parks. I love it here. Then, four or five years ago, Kraft Foods asked me to lead a team in Singapore, and so we moved to Singapore for two years and had a great experience, and then we moved back to New Jersey.
Tell us about Caring Organizer. What is it about?
Caring Organizer is a website that I developed. We have free online tools and helpful tips to make it easy for people to help other people in times of need. There are practical tools that you can take advantage of to help others when someone has either passed away in their family, or they've recovered from a surgery, or they're sick, etc..
Who is your target audience?
The target audience are people who generally help other people. There's always going to be that person -- maybe it's also that person who organizes barbecues or the family gatherings or volunteers at the school -- people who know to get out of their comfort zone and reach out to help other people.
What inspired you start Caring Organizer?
I worked at Kraft Foods for 20 years in marketing leadership roles, and while I was working I always volunteered on the side and did a lot of side gigs within the company. Whenever there was an opportunity to organize the employees to volunteer at a food bank or a food pantry, to do things to give back, that was always my passion. I decided that after 20 years, I really wanted to incorporate that into my everyday life. I've always had a dream to start a social business -- I read a lot about social businesses -- and I just always wanted to do something, so I finally just took the leap.
What is it about food that people find comforting?
What I found from my experiences is that food is actually universal in bringing comfort. It transcends all cultures and religions. People like to bring food when you want to support someone else, and especially when you're going through one of these types of situations that are difficult. For example, a neighbor of mine just had a double hip replacement, so we neighbors all got together and organized a schedule of sending in food because that's one less thing that she has to think -- cooking for her family. Another neighbor lost her brother and has two small kids. By us sending in meals, it was one less thing that she didn't have to think about. Sending food provides comfort and also just really helps alleviate all the stress that comes along with all the other things going on.
How easy is it to use Caring Organizer?
Anyone in any city can use the website. We are working on rolling out our directory into different cities. It's all mobile-friendly. 70 percent of people are using a mobile device when they sign up to send in meals. It actually only takes a few minutes to set up the Meal Scheduler. You can then share it on social media. You can text it. People find a date to send in a meal (they can pick a place from our directory, or any other place that they want), and sign up. You do have to call the restaurant yourself to make the order. We're just the scheduling/organizing piece of it.
The local directory is simply suggestions for places, but you can really order or send a homemade meal from anywhere you want. For example, we just had a family whose son is ill, and I would say about half of the people who are sending in meals are making homemade ones. So, it's a very, very flexible website, with flexible tools.
The intention is to make it easy for people. It eliminates all of that back and forth of the text and the e-mails and the phone calls about, "Should I bring chicken or bring salmon? Should I send it on Tuesday or Wednesday?" It takes out all of those logistics questions, so that when you want to talk to the person who's experiencing difficult times, you can just say "how are you" and focus the conversation on that. You don't have to ask them all the details of what you can do to help them. It helps to streamline all of that.
What words of advice would you give to those who are hesitant about reaching out a helping hand to someone in need?
My advice is always if you're thinking it, don't hesitate. You're going to know the situation, and if you're feeling uncomfortable or hesitant about know bothering the person, which we hear a lot, send a message. Don't expect a reply right away because the person may not be in the right frame of mind your reply but they surely will feel loved and supported. And often it's when people you don't expect to hear from that when you do, it's an amazing feeling. So, I would just say that you're never going to do anything wrong. You just have to have the courage and be brave to reach out and do something, even if it is just sending a card in the mail or sending a private message on Facebook, or texting. Do something to show that you care.
What words of advice would you give to someone who is thinking about starting his/her own business?
The first thing is that it's incredibly scary. Changing your career completely is always scary, and also going from financial stability to doing a startup is extremely scary. My advice is, you look at ways that you can cut back your expenses and get yourself ready to do it. It's just really important to understand that you're going to have tradeoffs. When you're going on an entrepreneurial journey there's going to be a lot of tradeoffs, and there are going be so many ups and downs -- like, so many ups and downs. But if you're truly passionate, you are just going to be happier and, hopefully, successful will follow.
Is there anything you'd like to add? What’s next on the horizon for you?
Public speaking is definitely something that I want to start doing. My whole mission is to encourage people to help other people. I would love to be able to have a speaking opportunity to be able to relay my message. I could talk about things, like, why do we hesitate to reach out to others? I'm starting to think about writing a speech for that. Things you can do to support people. I have a whole bunch of topics.
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You can also follow Caring Organizer on Facebook and Instagram.