Arlene & Joseph Meraux Charitable Foundation
ActivePhilanthropy & VoluntarismFunds Individuals
About Arlene & Joseph Meraux Charitable Foundation
The Arlene & Joseph Meraux Charitable Foundation concentrates large, local gifts to community-focused causes in St. Bernard Parish and the surrounding New Orleans area. Their recent giving shows major one-off or multi-grant investments in a civic partner (land donation to the parish) and a substantial cash grant to a community nonprofit, indicating a preference for tangible community development and organizational support rather than many small grants.
Focus Areas
Local municipal/civic infrastructure support (land donation to St. Bernard Parish)Community development and neighborhood-focused nonprofit support (large operating or capital grant to Glassroots)Place-based philanthropy focused on St. Bernard Parish/Violet, LA and nearby communities
Who They Fund
students / education institutionsperforming arts students and academy staffathletes / school sports programslocal community / institution using donated land
Giving Approach
About Arlene & Joseph Meraux Charitable Foundation
A defining feature of the Arlene & Joseph Meraux Charitable Foundation Inc is its repeated support for St. Bernard Parish institutions, alongside occasional larger commitments that touch education, arts, and community infrastructure. Recent giving includes a $2,000,000 donation to Glassroots in New Orleans and a $1,505,250 donation to St Bernard Parish Government in Chalmette, showing the scale at which the foundation can make place-based investments. The grant list also shows recurring support for local civic and community partners, including the Community Center of St Bernard and the St Bernard School Board, which points to a sustained interest in institutions that shape daily life in the parish. The foundation’s portfolio is not limited to one type of recipient. It has supported educational organizations such as Wyes-tv - Greater New Orleans Education Television Foundation, cultural groups like Goat in the Road Productions, and Louisiana universities, including Louisiana State University. It also made an in-kind land donation to St Bernard Parish Government in 2023, signaling that land and asset use are part of its philanthropic toolkit. The mix of cash grants, property transfers, and recurring local support suggests a funder focused on practical community outcomes in and around Violet and the wider New Orleans area.
What Arlene & Joseph Meraux Charitable Foundation Funds
Education appears as a durable thread in the foundation’s recent grants. It gave $202,000 to Scholarships in 2025, $181,500 in 2024, and $168,000 in 2023 to Scholarship, indicating multi-year backing for student support. It also supported St Bernard School Board with a $144,169 grant in 2025, linking education funding to local institutions in Chalmette. Arts and culture are another visible area. The foundation granted $65,533 in 2025 and $57,099 in 2024 to Goat in the Road Productions in New Orleans, and it made a $40,000 grant in 2024 to Nola Mural Project. Media and broadcasting also show up in the record: Wyes-tv - Greater New Orleans Education Television Foundation received $125,000 in both 2024 and 2025. In higher education, Hamline University received $80,000 in 2023, $39,782 in 2024, and $54,464 in 2025.
How Arlene & Joseph Meraux Charitable Foundation Gives
Typical grants sit in a narrow midrange, with a p25 of $2,500, a median of $5,000, and a p75 of $25,160. That profile sits alongside a few much larger outliers, which indicates the foundation uses both modest awards and substantial project-scale commitments. The recent list also shows repeated support to the same organizations across multiple years, including Community Center of St Bernard, Wyes-tv - Greater New Orleans Education Television Foundation, Goat in the Road Productions, and Hamline University. The foundation makes grants locally and also uses in-kind support, as shown by the land donation to St Bernard Parish Government. It does not make program-related investments.
Financial Snapshot
Annual Giving
$3.1M
Total Assets
$96.9M
Total Revenue
$9.1M
Total Expenses
$6.4M
Typical Grant Size
Most grants fall between $3K and $25K, with a median of $5K.
25th Percentile
$3K
Median
$5K
75th Percentile
$25K
Geographic Reach
Local7 states funded
Funding intensity
LowHigh
Headquarters
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