American Safety, LLC, The Official Disaster Relief Partner of the New Orleans Saints, Donates $17,750 to the Gayle and Tom Benson Disaster Relief Fund at the Greater New Orleans Foundation
Courtesy of the New Orleans Saints
American Safety, LLC, the Official Disaster Relief Partner of the New Orleans Saints, contributed $50 for every point scored during the 2025 Saints season, resulting in a total donation of $17,750 to the Gayle and Tom Benson Disaster Relief Fund, a fund at the Greater New Orleans Foundation, on February 2. Founded in 2019, American Safety, LLC provides transportation, disaster preparedness and recovery support, environmental and industrial services, and serves as a general contractor for clients across the Gulf South.
The Greater New Orleans Foundation and the Gayle and Tom Benson Charitable Foundation announced the establishment of the endowed Gayle and Tom Benson Disaster Relief Fund at the Greater New Orleans Foundation in June 2024. Mrs. Benson’s investment helps ensure that the Foundation is positioned to play an immediate role in aiding our region’s most vulnerable citizens when the next disaster strikes. Each time we are hit by a disaster in Southeast Louisiana, the Foundation immediately makes grants from the Gayle and Tom Benson Disaster Relief Fund to support nonprofit organizations on the front lines working to help thousands of our neighbors in their moment of need. These first dollars hitting the ground are crucial to aiding our region’s families when they are most vulnerable, and these grants will be announced each time the Greater New Orleans Foundation kicks off its fundraising efforts following a disaster, hopefully inspiring others to see what might be possible with their financial support.
The Foundation has responded to every disaster since Hurricane Katrina when it led the Unified Community Planning effort and raised a $23 million affordable housing fund. The Foundation raised and distributed approximately $10 million in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and over $8 million in response to Hurricane Ida. Last year following the New Year’s Day Terrorist Attack, the Foundation raised and distributed over $3.1 million to the families of those who lost loved ones and other individuals significantly impacted by the attack. If you’d like to help people in our community come back strong after disasters, you may make a donation to the Gayle and Tom Benson Disaster Relief Fund by clicking here. Please specify the “Gayle and Tom Benson Disaster Relief Fund” when making your donation.
Foundation Partners with the National Charter Schools Institute and NOLA Public Schools to Host Workshop for New Orleans Charter School Board Members
Courtesy of VPJR
To advance the work of charter school boards, the Foundation, in partnership with the National Charter Schools Institute (NCSI) and NOLA Public Schools (NOLA-PS), hosted The Success Agenda on January 28 at the Greater New Orleans Foundation. The Success Agenda brought national experts and District leadership together for an evening of inspiration, guided learning to advance student academic growth and outcomes, and connection with other charter board members. The Success Agenda was offered as a part of the Foundation’s Paulette and Frank Stewart’s Board Governance Institute’s Charter Board Governance Series, which is offered with generous support from the Pro Bono Publico Foundation and in partnership with NOLA Public Schools, New Schools for New Orleans, and local and national consultants with established records of success in elevating the impact and effectiveness of charter schools. The following charter organizations and schools participated in the event:
- Advocates for Arts-Based Education -The Willow School
- Algiers Charter School Association – L. B. Landry High School and Martin Behrman Charter School Academy of Creative Arts and Sciences
- Bricolage Academy
- Citizens’ Committee for Education – Homer A. Plessy Community School
- Collegiate Academies – Abramson Sci Academy, G. W. Carver High School, Livingston Collegiate Academy, Opportunities Academy, and Walter L. Cohen High School
- Elan Academy
- FirstLine Schools – Arthur Ashe Charter School, Langston Hughes Academy, Phillis Wheatley Community School, and Samuel J. Green Charter School
- Friends of King – Dr. Martin L. King, Jr. Charter School
- Legacy of Excellence – Benjamin Franklin Elementary and Middle Mathematics and Science School
- Success Preparatory Academy – Success at Thurgood Marshall
- Young Audiences Charter Association – YACS at Lawrence D. Crocker
As charter schools across the District celebrate academic growth and progress and the highest ever letter grade earned by NOLA Public Schools, the Foundation believes it is important to recognize the critical role charter school boards played in these wins. Schools with well-informed board members and strong governance systems and practices are better positioned to advance the academic outcomes characteristic of thriving schools. During this session, state accountability expectations, district momentum, and board-level decision-making were intentionally connected, and the event equipped participants with practical tools they can immediately apply in their governance roles.
GiveNOLA Day Nonprofit Registration Is Open!
Nonprofit registration for GiveNOLA Day 2026 is now open! Organizations may register by clicking here. GiveNOLA Day will take place on Tuesday, May 5, 2026. The GiveNOLA Day team and the Mightycause team, the Foundation’s new technology provider for GiveNOLA Day, hosted a training webinar to help nonprofits navigate the new registration process and take advantage of the new platform. The webinar is available for viewing here. Nonprofit registrants may also visit the “Nonprofit FAQs” page in order to access helpful tips for registering their organization, whether they’re a returning participant or signing up for GiveNOLA Day for the first time.
An initiative of the Greater New Orleans Foundation, GiveNOLA Day is a one-day online giving event that provides support for 1,000+ nonprofits in the thirteen-parish region the Foundation serves (Orleans, Jefferson, St. Tammany, St. Bernard, Plaquemines, Lafourche, Terrebonne, Assumption, St. Charles, St. James, St. John the Baptist, Tangipahoa, and Washington Parishes). Since its inception, GiveNOLA Day has helped raise more than $71.2 million for regional nonprofits. The majority of gifts are $100 or less, which shows that even small gifts add up to a huge impact.
The Foundation celebrated its 12th annual GiveNOLA Day in 2025, hosted by Baptist Community Ministries and powered by Entergy, which generated nearly $7 million in donations for a record-breaking 1,027 nonprofits.
Early Bird Registration ends on February 26. Nonprofits that complete their registration by the end of the Early Bird Registration period will be eligible to be featured on the Greater New Orleans Foundation’s social media channels. Please note that due to high demand, nonprofit social media features are not guaranteed.
Greater New Orleans Foundation’s Women’s Giving Circle, Impact 100, Hosts Recruitment Event, Invites You to Become a Member! 
Impact 100, the Greater New Orleans Foundation’s women’s giving circle, hosted a recruitment mixer at the home of Advisory Committee Co-Chair, Rena Jolly, on January 29. Impact 100 is a group of over 100 local women who commit to giving $1,100 each and together making a single transformative grant to a local nonprofit. We invite you to join Impact 100 for its 14th year of grantmaking. Members are welcome to pay in monthly installments. Since its inaugural year, Impact 100 has granted more than $1.725 million to nonprofits across our region.
In November 2025, the 170-women strong giving circle awarded local nonprofit, People’s Housing+, Inc. with a $100,000 transformative grant. The three runners-up, Grow Dat Youth Farm, Sankofa Community Development Corporation, and Start the Adventure in Reading (STAIR) each received a $23,333 grant. To learn more, click here.
Impact 100 would love to have you join this community, amplifying the group’s impact and supporting our local nonprofits through their shared giving! To register for Impact 100, click here. If you have any questions, please contact Donor Relations Associate Mary Conly Fakier at maryconly@gnof.org or (504) 620-5275.
Fundholder Testimonial: Dan and Jackie Silverman
Jackie and Dan Silverman have partnered with the Greater New Orleans Foundation through their family fund for 11 years. Their commitment to philanthropy has helped assist over 4,700 parents and children recovering from homelessness through their efforts with The New Orleans Women & Children’s Shelter. Recently, the New Orleans Women and Children’s Shelter was featured in a NOLA.com article, because Keesler Credit Union chose the shelter as their 2025 Kicks for Kids beneficiary, meaning every time the New Orleans Saints made a field goal, the credit union donated $1,000 to the shelter. The Saints kickers raised $30,000 for the 2025 season.
“For many years, we were consistent donors to a range of nonprofits and causes which we felt were important, but seldom did we get truly involved in any significant direct work other than in our own congregation.
Then came Hurricane Katrina! We were among the fortunate families, with minimal damage. In mid-2006, Jackie became aware of the plight of homeless women, began work with a rudimentary shelter, and then got Dan involved. We didn’t know much about homelessness, but we knew we had the abilities and desire to create positive direct impacts for individuals that truly needed assistance, so we opened our first shelter location. We were then hands-on, 24/7, and loved knowing we were making a true difference in the lives of families as we organically built programs to assist families to break the cycle of homelessness. Now the New Orleans Women and Children’s Shelter is the largest family shelter in the metro area.
The Greater New Orleans Foundation came into our lives in 2014 when the shelter was awarded a transformational grant from Impact 100, which was huge for us financially but also a sign that the community would rally behind our efforts. After some research we realized that the Foundation was where we wanted to open our own family fund. Through the Greater New Orleans Foundation and its incredible leadership and fantastic staff, we have become aware of other community needs, which we have been able to support as well. We love how easy it is for us to decide to give money, and with an email, it’s done.”
Nonprofit Spotlight: Louisiana Partnership for Children and Families Merges with The Louisiana Policy Institute for Children with Support from the Foundation’s Mergers Fund
Courtesy of The Louisiana Policy Institute for Children
The Louisiana Partnership for Children & Families (LA Partnership) officially merged with The Louisiana Policy Institute for Children (LPIC) at the end of December, bringing together two organizations that strengthen advocacy for Louisiana’s children and families. This merger further strengthens the early childhood-focused policy, research and advocacy of LPIC while continuing the more than 20-year legacy of the LA Partnership’s leadership for children and families.
LPIC was first incubated as a project of the LA Partnership before it became an independent nonprofit organization in 2014. Now, the two organizations are coming back together to advance policies that ensure Louisiana’s young children and families succeed.
This reunified organization is the result of a strategic merger supported by the Greater New Orleans Foundation’s Strategic Restructuring and Mergers Fund. The Foundation both guides organizations through this complex process and provides the funding needed to get it done.
In 2020, the Foundation, in partnership with the University of New Orleans, released The State of Nonprofits in Southeast Louisiana: The Impact of the COVID 19 Pandemic, which found that two-thirds of all local nonprofits reported experiencing financial losses resulting from the pandemic, eighty-four percent said they were anticipating financial difficulties, and twenty-three percent stated they would be open to a merger, quite a surprise in a sector where consolidations have generally been resisted. Recognizing these challenges and opportunities for consolidation, the Foundation established the Strategic Restructuring and Mergers Fund. To learn more about this merger, click here.
Foundation, Hancock Whitney Announce $200K in Grants to 21 Nonprofits, Including 9 in Southeast Louisiana
Hancock Whitney Bank, with support from the Greater New Orleans Foundation, announced that 21 nonprofit organizations across the Gulf South, including nine in Southeast Louisiana, have been named the latest Opportunity Grant recipients. Through the Hancock Whitney Opportunity Grant awards, these organizations will be more equipped to expand access to critical services that help address food insecurity, workforce development, youth programs, or whose core teams are supported by AmeriCorps volunteers. The 2025 Opportunity Grants, totaling $200,000, were allocated to a variety of organizations across Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida. Winners located in Southeast Louisiana are:
- Food Banks: Giving HOPE, Grace at the Greenlight, and Catholic Charities Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux
- Workforce Readiness Agencies, Job-Training Programs: Jericho Road Episcopal Housing Initiative and New Orleans Bioinnovation Center, Inc
- Afterschool Programs, Youth Mentorship Programs: Louisiana Center for Children’s Rights, Thrive New Orleans, Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities, and One Way Love, Inc.
The Greater New Orleans Foundation helped create awareness about the grants and managed the grant application process. Hancock Whitney reviews applications and awards grants to qualifying nonprofits according to a competitive assessment that measures overall community impact.
“When we invest in nonprofits, we invest in the strength, resilience, and future of our region,” said Andy Kopplin, President & CEO, Greater New Orleans Foundation. “These organizations are closest to the challenges our neighbors face every day. We are thrilled to yet again partner with Hancock Whitney to support the Opportunity Grant program, providing needed funding to the organizations who work tirelessly to create a more thriving, just, and sustainable region for us all.” To read more, click here.
In the News: Community Lighthouse Initiative Highlighted for Innovation, Life-Saving Work in Communities
Courtesy of The Lens
In a recent article, The Lens highlighted the Community Lighthouse strategy, led by Together Louisiana and launched with a $1 million leadership grant from the Greater New Orleans Foundation, for its innovation and life-saving work during disasters. The article, originally published in Faith & Leadership, tells the story of how the initiative came to life in the aftermath of Hurricane Ida in September 2021. In the months following the storm, community leaders took part in a Zoom meeting, hosted by Together New Orleans, to discuss options for community-led solutions, where the idea for the initiative was born.
Since Ida, Together New Orleans has established 14 Community Lighthouses across the city, each powered by commercial-scale solar systems with back-up battery capacity. The project aims to build a network of lighthouses so that every New Orleanian could walk to one in less than 15 minutes. Hurricane Francine in 2024 was the first test of the Lighthouse system. At the Lighthouse at First Grace United Methodist Church, for example, the energy stored in batteries kept the lights and air conditioning on in the fellowship hall to keep neighbors cool and with access to the internet. The Salvation Army and other local aid organizations provided food, and helped keep oxygen tanks and other medical devices running overnight.
The gift to support the Community Lighthouse initiative was the Foundation’s largest single grant from its Disaster Response and Restoration fund. Click here to read more.