Mother Teresa Women's Giving Circle Grants $101,000 to Local Nonprofits

After another year of tremendous challenges in our community, the Mother Teresa Women's Giving Circle members have granted $101,000 to seven local nonprofits directly impacting the lives of women, children, and families. Through prayer and community, the group of Catholic women have together overcome the challenges of Hurricane Ida and found ways to make an impact in the community. After listening to presentations from thirteen nonprofits, members were able to vote for seven nonprofits that would benefit from their efforts.

On Thursday, May 12, members of the Mother Teresa Women's Giving Circle joined together to present $101,000 in grants to these seven nonprofits focused on women, children, and families:

• Catholic Charities Disaster Relief ($34,000 to continue with their appliance assistance efforts)
• Crossroads Pregnancy Center ($20,000 to implement a digital marketing campaign to further their reach in our community)
• The Haven ($15,000 for their Family Violence Emergency Support Program and Flexible Housing Fund)
• Friends of Beyond the Bell ($8,000 to improve engagement in experiences and trips for kids)
• St. Lucy's Daycare ($8,000 to add and improve playground equipment and kitchen appliances)
• Hope Extreme ($8,000 to improve the after school program by purchasing new equipment and supplies)
• Good Samaritan Food Bank and Thrift Store of Raceland ($8,000 to extend outreach of the foodbank to other locations like the Wallace Center)

“It has been a truly humbling experience to watch the members of the Mother Teresa Women's Giving Circle live out Mother Teresa's mission to help women, children, and families," said Amy Ponson, executive director of the Catholic Foundation of South Louisiana. “Over the course of four years, despite continued challenges we face daily, the Catholic women within our diocese have led with their prayers, their hearts, and their vision to make our community a better place. Their shared generosity has enabled our Giving Circle to distribute over $329,000 over the last four years. Our vision was to build a community of Catholic women where every gift, no matter how large or small, would make an impact locally. We are honored to have been able to grant out $101,000 this year and hope to continue to grow our support throughout our local community.”

For more information about the Mother Teresa Women’s Giving Circle, please visit https://www.catholicfoundationsl.org/womens-giving-circle/. If you are interested in joining, please contact Amy Ponson at (985) 850-3116, or [email protected].

Mother Teresa Women’s Giving Circle Steering Committee members include: Bonnie Babin, Wanda Birdsall, Charlotte Bollinger, Pat Caillouet, Andree’ Casey, Emelie Cheramie, Karen David, Susan David, Rene David, Mary Duplantis, Renee Gautreaux, Brenda Riviere, Lillie Triche Romano, Kelly Thibodeaux, Clarisse Waguespack