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Showing posts from September, 2021

BR Parents: One Amazing Kid - Mindy Jones

First published in the September 2021 issue of Baton Rouge Parents magazine and on its website. When a friend asked Mindy Jones if she would help her raise money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society as part of the Baton Rouge Bees, Mindy agreed. That “yes” turned into a leadership opportunity for Mindy, as the next year she led the Bees’ fundraising efforts, raising more than $41,000. “As the campaign went on and I learned more about it, I realized how much this society does and how much they do for our community,” Mindy, 17, says. “My grandfather actually passed away from leukemia three years ago, so it’s a very personal journey for me.” Now a senior at St. Michael the Archangel High School, Mindy received the 2021 Ochsner Citizenship Award for Mission Integration, honoring her for “spreading the word about this campaign and LLS in general throughout the community,” she says. Her fundraising included other schools and companies to make a bigger impact.  “We did thing

BR Parents - Thrive: Supporting the Gardere Community with Service and Outreach

  First published in Baton Rouge Parents magazine's September 2021 issue and on its website . Through feeding, encouraging participation in school, providing financial support and much more, a local organization has been helping families in the Gardere community thrive for 20 years.  Opening Doors, a Louisiana nonprofit corporation, was launched in March 2001 by members of St. John’s United Methodist Church. The board includes a resident of the Gardere area as well as a member of the mayor’s staff. The nonprofit relies on volunteers to operate. Don Fuller was the organization’s first president, and Sandra Kuykendall is the current chairperson of the board.  “Members of the church wanted to expand their outreach and thought it would be best to do that through a nonprofit,” Kuykendall says.  Its nonprofit status allows Opening Doors to apply for grants to fund its work, and this year, the group received $15,000 from the Capital Area United Way as part of its ALICE Gra

BR Parents - September 2021

As my final issue as education and community sections editor, I wrote pages 14-21 and page 26 of the September 2021 issue of Baton Rouge Parents magazine. Read the magazine on their website .