The Entergy Charitable Foundation (ECF), the nonprofit arm of nuclear power provider Entergy Corporation, announced $1.4 million in grants to organizations in seven Southern states, including more than $1 million for groups in Louisiana.
ECF, which has a special focus on low-income initiatives, educational and literacy programs and efforts to protect the environment, issued grants to several nonprofit organizations in the still recovering city of New Orleans.
Approximately $800,000 in grants went to nonprofit groups in the New Orleans metro area working to help the region continue its recovery from Hurricane Katrina, ECF said.
The St. Bernard Project received a grant of $511,975 to help it expand its home rebuilding program to the Gentilly neighborhood in New Orleans, where it plans to rebuild 25 Gentilly homes and 25 homes in St. Bernard. All of the homes will be built and furnished to Energy Star energy efficiency standards.
The next largest grant, $150,000, went to KIPP New Orleans, which runs five elementary and middle schools in New Orleans targeted to students of low-income families.
The Gulf Coast Housing Development Corp. received a $75,000 grant to help fund a "gateway project" that is part of a larger effort to revitalize the Old South Baton Rouge area with mixed-use developments.
The foundation gave $30,000 to the Arkansas Single Parent Scholarship Fund. The fund gives scholarships to low-income mothers and fathers who are working to earn a college degree.
ECF provided other education-oriented grants to the Project SMART program run by the Oswego College Foundation and the Peekskill City School District. Project SMART helps teams of educators develop curriculum that connect students with real-life applications of educational principles. 