(HOUMA) The Bayou Community Foundation (BCF) today announced grants totaling $230,000 to 29 non-profit organizations working in Lafourche, Terrebonne and Grand Isle as part of the foundation’s sixth annual competitive grants program.

This is the community foundation’s largest grants program to date and brings the total amount of grants awarded by BCF to over $1 million since 2013.

“Today is an awesome day of celebration for BCF as we award grants for nonprofits that are changing people’s lives for the better and making our entire Bayou Region an even better place to live and work. We always say that Lafourche, Terrebonne and Grand Isle are special communities, and these 29 grant awards demonstrate the care and compassion we have for our fellow residents and our commitment to strengthening this unique place we call home,” said BCF Chairman Dr. James Leonard.

Since the birth of BCF in 2012, the foundation been focused on building and sustaining our Lafourche, Terrebonne and Grand Isle communities by supporting local nonprofits that help our neighbors in need, provide educational opportunities to residents, and work to preserve our valuable coast.  This year’s grants will fund innovative programs that fill critical needs in our community by providing mental health care and addiction recovery programs, food and medicine for the poor and elderly, advocates for children in foster care, and tutoring and mentoring programs for at-risk youth, just to name a few.

“In these challenging economic times, with the number of local residents in need growing rapidly, donors here and outside of our area have opened their hearts and their pocketbooks to help sustain many critical nonprofit services with one gift to BCF. It is this tremendous generosity that has allowed BCF to reach the amazing milestone of $1 million in grants awarded since 2013 and to continue to make positive and lasting impacts on our community,” Leonard explained.

The following 29 nonprofits received grants from BCF today totaling $230,000:

Faith Ministries – $1,000 – Hunger Relief Project

Girls on the Run Bayou Region – $2,500 – program enrollment for needy students

Grand Caillou Middle School – $3,500 – Games and activities for alternative recess room

Gulf Coast Social Services – $5,000 – Enhanced Mentoring Program for at-risk youth

LUMCON – $5,000 – Learning opportunities at LUMCON for students from disadvantaged schools

St. Francis Vegetable Garden – $5,000 – funding support for garden management

VIA Link – $5,000 – Teen Crisis Text Line in Lafourche and Terrebonne

Rev. Lloyd Wallace Community Center – $5,000 – technology for Beyond the Bell after-school program

Women’s Restoration – $5,000 – furnishings and equipment for start-up of recovery program

Bayou Council Behavioral Health Services – $6,000– Parent Education Program

Jacob’s Ladder – $6,500 – Celebrate Recovery re-entry program for incarcerated adults\

M.D. Wright Academic Center – $7,500– tutoring programs for at-risk youth

Options for Independence – $8,000 – substance abuse counseling training for family therapists

START Corporation– $8,000 – Functional Family Therapy Child Welfare Program

Fletcher Foundation – $8,200 – purchase of a trailer for commercial vehicle operators program

CASA of Terrebonne – $10,000 –  child advocate volunteer recruitment and public outreach campaign

Catholic Community Center – $10,000 – expansion of Food Bank in Galliano

Crossroads Pregnancy Resource Center – $10,000 –  Family Values Program for expectant parents

The Haven – $10,000 – Violence Prevention Program for students in Terrebonne and Lafourche

Lafourche Education Foundation – $10,000 – Dolly Parton Imagination Library

MacDonell Children’s Services – $10,000 – program development for youth aging out of foster care

New Life Counseling Center – $10,000 – Access to Care counseling program for underserved residents

Second Harvest Food Bank – $10,000 – food distribution and Mobile Pantry in Terrebonne, Lafourche and Grand Isle

St. Vincent de Paul Tri-Parish Pharmacy – $10,000 – provide free medication to the poor and elderly

Terrebonne Foundation for Academic Excellence – $10,000 –Dolly Parton Imagination Library for Pre-K and Kindergarten students at low-performing Terrebonne public schools

Friends of the PACT Place – $10,500 – Monitors for PACT Place supervised visitation and exchange site

Lafourche ARC – $10,800 – vehicle awning and enclosed trailer for Workforce Development Program

Hope Restored Pregnancy Resource Center – $12,500 – Doppler ultrasound machine

Terrebonne ARC – $15,000 – commercial kitchen equipment for new bakery

BCF was established in 2012 by Lafourche and Terrebonne Parish residents who, after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and the 2010 Gulf oil spill, recognized the need for a community foundation to strengthen our Bayou Region and to attract national and international assistance in the event of a future emergency or natural disaster.

Gifts from the Gheens Foundation, local family foundations, and other generous local donors support BCF’s grant-making program, focused on addressing the region’s most critical needs. Since 2013, BCF has awarded $1,012,270 in competitive grants to local nonprofits working in human services, education, workforce development, and coastal preservation.  The organization also conducts workshops for nonprofit organizations, coordinates the “Give Bayou” online giving effort, and conducts other programs designed to sustain and strengthen local nonprofits and our precious coastal community.

For more information on the Bayou Community Foundation, contact Coordinator Jennifer Armand at ArmandJ@BayouCF.org