Emeril Lagasse Foundation Announces Spring Community Grants Totaling $127K
Annual Funding Creates Opportunities to Inspire, Mentor, and Enable Youth to Reach Full Potential
The Emeril Lagasse Foundation has announced it will distribute $127,000 to four non-profits nationwide as part of its annual spring grants cycle. The organizations awarded the community grants share a similar mission to support youth through culinary, nutrition, and arts education. The beneficiaries are Second Harvest Food Bank, Ingram Lee Foundation, Mattie Kelly Arts Foundation, and Orange County School of the Arts Foundation.
“Alden and I started this foundation to support youth and provide them with opportunities they would not otherwise have,” said Chef Emeril Lagasse. “While we continue to nurture our roots here at home in New Orleans, we are excited that the reach of the foundation is growing across the country.”
Second Harvest Food Bank’s Summer Feeding and Kids Café Programs (New Orleans) provide nutritious meals for hungry children after school and during the summer months when many would otherwise go without them. This year, the programming will reach 4,500 children experiencing food insecurity in South Louisiana. The grant from Emeril Lagasse Foundation will help offset costs for the summer program not covered by federal reimbursements.
The Ingram Lee Foundation (Gulf South) was established to aid and improve the lives of motivated, economically disadvantaged individuals by providing assistance to facilitate their progress to higher learning and developing life skills. The grant from Emeril Lagasse Foundation will support the scholarship fund for young students hoping to achieve higher education.
The Mattie Kelly Arts Foundation (MKAF) (Destin, FL) focuses on fostering a vibrant arts community and providing educational opportunities for youth. MKAF addresses the need for increased arts accessibility, especially among underserved groups like those from underprivileged or rural backgrounds in Northwest Florida. Its Arts Reach Program endeavors to break down barriers to arts participation and enrich the lives of all community members. The grant from Emeril Lagasse Foundation will support the Arts Reach Program, expand its mobile arts education units, and subsidize participation in arts programs and events for low-income families.
Orange County School of the Arts (OCSA) Foundation’s Culinary Arts & Hospitality Conservatory (Orange County, CA) provides high school students with advanced training in culinary and hospitality industries, fostering their passion for food, creativity, and excellence. The grant from Emeril Lagasse Foundation will allow OCSA to upgrade its Food Science and Nutrition classrooms, providing students with the necessary equipment to elevate their learning experience and better prepare them for future careers in the culinary and hospitality industries.
About Emeril Lagasse Foundation: Founded in 2002 by Chef Emeril Lagasse and his wife Alden, Emeril Lagasse Foundation is a 501c(3) public charity headquartered in New Orleans. The Foundation’s mission is to create opportunities to inspire, mentor, and enable youth to reach their full potential. Since its inception, Emeril Lagasse Foundation has granted more than $20 million to children’s charities to support culinary, nutrition, and arts programs with a focus on life skills development. The Foundation accomplishes this through three programs. The Community Grants program provides programmatic and capital support to nonprofit organizations across the nation. The signature program, Emeril’s Culinary Garden & Teaching Kitchen, is a national education initiative created to enrich the lives of elementary and middle school children through a fun, fresh perspective on food. The Aarón Sánchez Impact Fund provides culinary arts education and human services programming for Latino youth. To learn more about the foundation and its beneficiaries, visit Emeril.org, or follow on Facebook, LinkedIn, or Instagram.
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