G A R D E N D I S T R I C T • G O O D W O O D • TA R A • S PA N I S H T O W N C A P I TA L H E I G H T S • L S U L A K E S • M E L R O S E P L A C E • B E A U R E G A R D T O W N
ADVOCATE THE MID CITY
T H E A D V O C AT E.C O M
|
W e d n e s d ay, au g u s t 21, 2024
If you would no longer like to receive this free product, please email brtmc@ theadvocate.com.
1gn
Jan Risher LONG STORY SHORT
Family roots are an anchor
PROVIDED PHOTOS
The Rapides Foundation brought Super Bowl Champion Malcolm Mitchell to Central Louisiana to conduct his reading rallies at all 64 elementary schools over a two-year period, reaching over 20,000 students.
THE GIFTS THAT KEEP ON GIVING MacKenzie Scott’s Yield Giving fund provided more than $182M
BY LAUREN CHERAMIE
Staff writer
By giving more than $182 million to improve the lives of many in Louisiana, MacKenzie Scott’s Yield Giving fund has changed the trajectory of 51 Louisiana nonprofits since 2020. “People bet on a winning horse,” said Denali Lander, senior director of development at Propel America, which received an undisclosed amount from Scott in 2023. (In total, 14 Louisiana organizations received undisclosed amounts.) Propel America serves communities in Louisiana, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and California “To have that endorsement from MacKenzie Scott helps us to showcase that we are being seen for the work that we’re doing, and that is so beneficial,” Lander said. In 2019, Scott, former wife of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, pledged to share her financial fortune “until the safe is empty” through The Giving Pledge — a movement of philanthropists who commit to give the majority of their wealth to charitable causes, either during their lifetimes or in their wills. To do so, Scott created her foundation, Yield Giving, named after a belief in adding value by giving up control. In her Pledge Letter, Scott featured an excerpt from Annie Dillard’s “The Writing Life”: “The impulse to save something good for a better place later
Middle school students learn how to use a syringe at Camp Fast Forward, one of many projects funded under a $4.4 million grant from The Rapides Foundation to develop future healthcare workers.
“I believe the gifts will do more good if others are free from my ideas about what they should do. And this trust — another resource it’s difficult to measure — is the aspect of gifts that many have said they value most.” PHILANTHROPIST MACKENZIE SCOTT is the signal to spend it now. ... Something more will arise for later, something better… Anything you do not give freely and abundantly becomes lost to you. You open your safe and find ashes.” Throughout Louisiana, the nonprofit organizations have received no-strings-
ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO
Philanthropist MacKenzie Scott, former ä See SCOTT, page 3G wife of Amazon mogul Jeff Bezos.
My family’s deep roots in the small town where I grew up provided an anchor that I didn’t recognize until decades after I left. When I spoke of going home, there was only one place where I meant — Forest, Mississippi. In recent years, all of my immediate family members have left our little town and, slowly but surely, the web of my extended family has dwindled there, too. To quote a song by Lori McKenna, “You live long enough, the people you love get old.” Even so, I like to come back to the places and people I knew growing up. My childhood friend Brian Kaskie and I used to talk about this very thing. After college, he became a Catholic priest and often counseled kids in Catholic schools in Mississippi. He once told me that he often said to his students, “Be nice to these people. One day, they will be the only ones who knew you when you were young.” I’m in the middle of a trip to Mississippi. Because I don’t have that anchor place in my hometown, the rhythm of this trip is different, which is both simultaneously sad and happy. It’s a trip of connecting various dots. First, I met a childhood friend, Christopher Gilmer, at a fancy restaurant in Jackson. I’m a year older than him, which means little now. Growing up, however, I was a year older than him so we didn’t hang out much. Plus, he was already much smarter than I will ever be back then, and I spent most of my free time playing some kind of sports (or curled up with a book somewhere). So, we didn’t find much common ground there either. Time, though, has alleviated much of what separated us back then. In the years since we both left our hometown, he has gone on to become a university president, an incredible writer and accomplish so much in the field of diversity and inclusion. Spending time with a fellow writer who not only shares my hometown but the same elementary, middle and high school teachers opens up a world of conversation — and is an incredible gift. After dinner, I drove to a cousin’s house to spend the night. Technically, she’s my mother’s sister’s daughter’s daughter. (I love tracking familial relations — and I love my cousins.) I’m a generation ahead of her, so we have watched our family from different vantage points. We ended up spending hours talking
ä See RISHER, page 2G
HOW YOU CAN HELP: VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES Louisiana Inspired highlights volunteer opportunities across south Louisiana. If your organization has specific volunteer opportunities, please email us at lainspired @theadvocate.com with details on the volunteer opportunity, organization and the contact/registration information volunteers would need.
Acadiana
The Children’s Museum of Acadiana, 210 E. Congress St., Lafayette, is a hands-on, educationally based museum serving children, as well as their families, schools and community organizations.This is done by providing interactive exhibits, special services, performances and workshops. It sees more than 44,000 visitors from 37 parishes across Louisiana annually. For volunteer opportunities, visit childrensmuseumofacadiana. com.
Baton Rouge
Girls on the Run South Louisiana, 2041 Perkins Road, is the local council of a national organization that envisions a world where every girl knows and activates her limitless potential and is free to boldly pursue her dreams. The organization serves 18 parishes in South Louisiana and has almost 13,000 girls who have gone through its program since 2009.The organization hosts two seasons a year: Fall, from September to November, and Spring, from February to May.Teams meet twice a week for 75-90 minutes for 10 weeks.The organization provides all training and materials and no running or coaching experience is required. For volunteer opportunities, visit girlsontherunsola.org.
New Orleans
Children’s Hospital, Inc.’s volunteer services, 200 Henry Clay Ave., New Orleans, has a mission to provide dedicated, caring volunteers to serve children receiving medical care, their families, visitors and employees.Volunteers augment the work of hospital personnel so that they have more time to care for patients.Volunteers elevate the patient experience, make an invaluable contribution to the quality of patient care and help the hospital continue to be an extraordinary place for children to receive their health care. For volunteer opportunities, visit chnola.org.