COVINGTON, LA. - Cleco Corporate Holdings LLC recently advanced their philanthropic giving through the Northshore Community Foundation by awarding nearly $25,000 to two deserving northshore nonprofits that are doing critical work in the region. The Regina Coeli Child Development Center and Truth in Nature organizations are the beneficiaries of this first round of Cleco grants.

“Cleco is proud to play a small role in the life changing work these agencies are doing along the Northshore,” said Peggy Scott, CEO of Cleco Corporate Holdings LLC. “Their work will leave a legacy for generations to come.”

Receiving an award of $18,500, the Regina Coeli Child Development Center, whose mission is to ready children for success in school while addressing early childhood education, health, well-being, nutrition and social service needs, plans to use the grant to fund the outdoor play/learning equipment for the Head Start program in Slidell. The Center integrates a developmentally appropriate curriculum reflecting the diverse ethnic, cultural and linguistic backgrounds of children from at-risk families or with an identified disability.

Receiving a grant of $5,000, the Truth in Nature organization is an outdoor ministry whose mission is to reach, inspire, support, and engage young men from fatherless and single-parent homes in an effort to help them understand their purpose and break the fatherless cycle in society today. They meet the needs of these young men by providing mentoring and role models to help reduce at-risk behaviors and better the community for future generations. They will use the grant to fund the storage unit needed for the equipment to support their program.

“We are committed to finding meaningful ways to assist Cleco in maximizing their generous philanthropic impact on the Northshore,” said Susan Bonnett Bourgeois, Foundation CEO.

The Northshore Community Foundation leverages generosity by uniting human and financial resources to enhance the quality of life on the Northshore. Since inception, they have granted over $13 million for the greater good. Cleco will offer multiple grant cycles in 2017. To learn more or to apply for the next round of grants, visit northshorefoundation.org/grants.