Awards Grant to Irene Campbell Foundation

The startup took home the grand prize of nearly $100K in cash and in-kind services.

Representatives of the Arlene and Joseph Meraux Charitable Foundation joined with partners from the LSU AgCenter, 4H Club, Chalmette High School, Sea Grant, St. Bernard Parish Sheriff’s Office, Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry, Anglers Bettering Louisiana’s Estuaries, and St. Bernard Coastal Department to plant Black Mangrove trees along the coast at Mosquito Bight on Bay Eloi at the east end of St. Bernard Parish.

The Arlene and Joseph Meraux Charitable Foundation has commissioned a series of eight murals to beautify and visually connect a collection of its buildings along St. Claude Ave. within the Old Arabi Cultural District.

Eugene Campbell is on a mission. The long-time Violet resident is creating and bringing opportunities to people in the eastern end of St. Bernard Parish.

The Arlene and Joseph Meraux Charitable Foundation announced today in a video message that it has committed $250,000 to the Community Center of St. Bernard, a charity that provides emergency food assistance to local families.

The Arlene and Joseph Meraux Charitable Foundation announced today, Lena Randazzo Torres’ 100th birthday, that it is naming the turn-of-the-century house on the nonprofit’s Docville Farm in her honor. ​

The Coastal Wetlands Planning, Protection, and Restoration Act (CWPPRA) Technical Committee selected the Reggio Marsh Creation and Hydrologic Restoration (RMCHC) project as one of its Project Priority List (PPL) programs earlier this month. Meraux Foundation Coastal and Environmental Program Director Blaise Pezold helped design the $15-20 million project with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The RMCHC will create and nourish 483 acres of emergent marsh in front of the Terre aux Boeuf Ridge in Reggio.

Louisiana has the second highest rate of domestic violence in the nation, which is on the rise amid the pandemic. In response, and to commemorate Domestic Violence Awareness Month, the Arlene and Joseph Meraux Charitable Foundation granted an additional $50,000 to the Family Violence Program of St. Bernard, formerly known as the St Bernard Battered Women’s Program. To date the Foundation has donated over a quarter million dollars to the local nonprofit.

An expanse of nearly 9,500 square feet of compacted sand is ready for concrete, superstructure and netting to serve as the home of the Center for Louisiana Citrus Innovation and Research at Docville Farm in Violet, Louisiana.

Blaise Pezold has been called by some, “The Marsh Doctor.” It’s a nickname he shies away from. But standing waist-deep in the marsh checking on recent plantings, you can see in his face the dedication and concern we all hope to see in our own doctors.

When AgMagic on the River, one of the Meraux Foundation’s marquee annual events, was reformatted as a ‘virtual’ event due to the pandemic this spring, the Foundation turned disappointment into opportunity. Seeing the trend of folks taking up gardening while being stuck at home, they found creative ways to get plants and seedlings raised for AgMagic to local gardeners.

Now months into the pandemic, a number of locals have lost their jobs and been struggling to feed their families. To meet this growing need, the Meraux Foundation stepped in to provide additional funding to the Community Center of St. Bernard, a charity that provides emergency food assistance.