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Bayou Community Foundation Grants $358,000 to 30 Local Nonprofits,
Largest Total In BCF History
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Foundation has invested over $12 Million to fill
critical community needs since 2013.
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Bayou Community Foundation awarded grants totaling $358,000 to 30 nonprofit organizations yesterday to fill critical needs like hunger, homelessness and mental health care in Lafourche, Terrebonne and Grand Isle.
This year’s total is the largest ever awarded by the Foundation in its 12-year history of the Annual Nonprofit Grants Program, and brings BCF’s total investment in critical community programs and hurricane recovery efforts to more than $12 million since 2013.
“Bayou Community Foundation celebrates our local nonprofits who work tirelessly to help the neediest among us and demonstrate the compassion and resiliency of our unique Bayou community,” said BCF Board President Henry Lafont. “Thanks to the amazing generosity of our donors, BCF is thrilled to present impactful grants to these 30 organizations for a total of $358,000, our largest grants program to date.”
BCF’s 2024 grants fund nonprofit programs that feed the hungry, house the homeless, provide low-cost or no-cost counseling and addiction treatment for under-resourced men and women of our area, and address other critical needs identified in the Foundation’s 2023 Community Needs Assessment. Grants support important nonprofit work such as education and training for under-served residents in our rural communities, financial assistance to help low-income residents pay utility bills and housing expenses, community gardens to provide fresh vegetables to residents in need, and water survival education to stem a growing risk of drownings in our bayou communities.
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This year, addressing the alarming rise in food insecurity in Lafourche, Terrebonne and Grand Isle has been a priority for BCF, and 40 percent of the grants awarded fund food distribution at local food banks and pantries. TCU Food Bank received the largest grant at $40,000 to feed thousands of men, women and children in Terrebonne and Lafourche parishes.
“Since 2020, hunger in our area has increased dramatically, especially among the working poor, and TCU has ramped up our work to fill this growing need. The food bank served 31,000 people last year and, at our current pace will serve 36,000 people in the Bayou Region this year, with twice weekly distributions at our main campus in Houma and food boxes provided at ten offsite locations in Terrebonne and Lafourche,” said TCU Food Bank Executive Director Daisy Cheramie. “This tremendous grant from BCF helps us feed many more hungry people, it's as simple as that. I cannot begin to express my gratitude to Bayou Community Foundation for these crucial funds on behalf of TCU, the pantries we represent and the thousands of people we serve.”
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Donors to Bayou Community Foundation's 2024 Grants Program include The Gheens Foundation, Woodside Energy, Chevron,
Callais Family Fund and many generous individuals, families, businesses and foundations who are passionate about
strengthening our precious coastal community.
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“Woodside Energy is proud to be a funding partner of the Bayou Community Foundation’s 2024 Annual Grants Program and remains committed to supporting their ongoing efforts at filling critical needs in Lafourche, Terrebonne and Grand Isle,” said Robert Young, Woodside Energy Head of Corporate Affairs International. “We congratulate all thirty nonprofit organizations that received grant awards and thank them and BCF for their continued work to improve the wellbeing of local residents and strengthen the sustainability of these important coastal communities.”
“At Chevron, we believe in contributing to the communities where we live and work,” said Leah Brown, Public Affairs Manager for Chevron’s Gulf of Mexico Business Unit. “We’re proud to support the Bayou Community Foundation and their mission to build and sustain Lafourche Parish, Terrebonne Parish, and Grand Isle. We look forward seeing the positive impact these grants will produce in the near term, as well as what we can continue to accomplish together in the future.”
“This is truly the most wonderful day of the year for Bayou Community Foundation! We are grateful to our grantees for the life-changing services they deliver to men, women and children in Lafourche, Terrebonne and Grand Isle. We are also overwhelmed with appreciation for each and every donor to BCF and our Grants Fund who have opened their hearts and their pocketbooks to fill critical needs and help us create a vibrant and diverse coastal community where all can thrive. Together, we are growing good right here at home,” said BCF Executive Director Jennifer Armand.
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Founded in 2012, Bayou Community Foundation works to create
a vibrant and diverse community of Lafourche, Terrebonne and Grand Isle where all can thrive. BCF helps donors grow their charitable gifts
to fill critical needs in our community, strengthen nonprofit capacity and implement collaborative efforts that elevate the lives of residents
in our unique and precious coastal community.
For more information on the Bayou Community Foundation,
visit www.BayouCF.org
or contact Executive Director Jennifer Armand
Jennifer@BayouCF.org
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