(La Porte, IN) - For a La Porte author, a blossoming literary career became an opportunity to help others in need.

 

Sara Noë, who was born and raised in La Porte, always wanted to write a novel.  Her dream came true in 2018, when she published the first in a series of six young adult supernatural fantasy books.

 

With the publication of her second book in the midst of the recent pandemic, Noë decided to give back.  She launched a campaign on her website to support Feeding America, a nationwide network of food banks and food pantries.  It was a way, she says, to use her good fortune to help others. "Just seeing the footage on the news of these food banks and the lines of cars stretching for miles down the highway just really struck me," she says. "So I decided that's what I would like to give back to, for all the families who were struggling in the pandemic and weren't in as good a position as I just happened to be by luck and timing." Noë says if the lockdown had happened a little earlier when she was still working as a restaurant server, she would have been in need of assistance herself.

 

During the month of February, Noë donated her royalties from books and merchandise, along with a personal contribution. According to Feeding America, that effort alone provided 5,000 meals for families. Noë says additional donations through her website at least doubled that amount. In all, "there were 10,000 or more meals provided for people," she says. "So that made me feel really good, that the community came in and also supported this initiative, and together we provided a lot more meals than I could have myself." 

 

Noë hopes to release her third book early next year.  She also does art and photography, which  can be seen at her website onthecobblestoneroad.com.   Her books and merchandise are available locally at the Co-op Shoppes and Hotspot Cafe.