Feb. 22
February 5, 2007
Bernice Hughes
February 7, 2007
Local supporters who have received generous donations from the Lorio Foundation came out to celebrate the foundation’s 10th anniversary last Wednesday in Downtown Thibodaux.
Executive Director Rita Dickie said the foundation, which is located in downtown Thibodaux, was established in 1997 under the will of the late Anna Lorio Richard, sister of the late Lloyd Lorio. Richard inherited a substantial amount of money from her brother’s estate 30 days prior to her death that same year.
“It was the inherited money that started the foundation. The foundation is made up of four board members, who met on quarterly basis. We fund grants for within the city limits of Thibodaux,” Dickie said.
When asked about the process for religious, charitable, educational, governmental agencies or other 501 (c) 3 organizations to apply for grants, the director said it is fairly easy. “The organizations have to request an application and tell us what they want the funds for. At our next meeting, the board members give the approval on the application,” Dickie said.
The Lorio Foundation, a 501 (c) 3 private foundation, has funded projects for the Thibodaux Volunteer Fire Department, the City of Thibodaux and St. Joseph Co-Cathedral Church renovation project.
The organization funded half the money for the senior citizen center on Canal Boulevard. For the school system, it funded the E.D. White Catholic High School track project, bought uniforms for the Thibodaux High School Band and playground equipment for Peltier Park.
Dickie said the foundation has donated roughly $9 million to the City of Thibodaux over the last 10 years.
“It is a blessing for the board members, who are not member of the family, to come in and be able to help the community,” Dickie said. “Cam Morvant is the president of the foundation. He is the initial lawyer who settled Richard’s estate. He got the papers drawn up to start the foundation under his client’s wishes. There are no living family members.”
Lafourche Parish President Charlotte Randolph said the foundation has contributed a considerable amount of money to the Lafourche Parish Government for the renovations and repairs to the two-story courthouse in Thibodaux.
Randolph said the Lorio Foundation is definitely a positive entity in the community because it has helped in so many different ways to better the city of Thibodaux since the start of the foundation a decade ago.
Dickie said donations are mostly made to the City of Thibodaux; only on certain occasions will the foundation venture to the outskirts of Lafourche Parish. “The initial call for the foundation was for the City of Thibodaux,” she said.
Lafourche Parish School Board member Floyd Benoit said the Lorio Foundation has contributed a substantial amount of money to Thibodaux schools, although it has done supported some parishwide programs, including “Teacher of the Year.”
“You name it, that have done it from small to big projects in the school system,” he said. “For example, elementary school playground equipment, advance technology in the high schools and junior high schools as well as helping students who have won regional competitions travel to state and world competitions.
“They have been a godsend. Once schools and public officials realized they could apply for grants through the foundation for different projects n the rest was history,” he said.
The foundation provided the school system with the means to meet safety guidelines when the state changed the playground equipment rules. Without the foundation’s help, the school system would never have come up with the money needed to regulate the playground equipment at most of the elementary schools and pre-Kindergarten programs in Thibodaux.
“For years, some schools went without playground equipment. Now, when you pass by the school you see beautiful red, blue, orange and yellow equipment outside for the kids to play on,” Benoit said.
The school system’s relationship with the Lorio Foundation has been wonderful over the past 10 years, Benoit said, because the foundation board members truly care about the community. He said the organization is not only supportive financially, but physically lends a helping hand with their input on different projects.
According to Dickie, of the local Habitat for Humanity, the housing group received the Lorio Foundation’s first donation. Board members donated Lloyd Lorio’s home.
Agreeing that the Lorio Foundation has been a godsend, Lynette Grazier, of the Bayou Area Habitat for Humanity, said the foundation has given Habitat for Humanity property to build six houses through donations and grants.
“Of those six houses, one of the houses we got a their grant actually paid for the house,” she said. “They also gave us $20,000 to buy new tools and equipment.
“Participants like the Lorio Foundation just make the community stronger in regards to helping people in need and putting low-income families in affordable housing. It’s partnerships like this that make the whole Habitat for Humanity mission successful. I hope it is a working relationship that we can carry on through the years,” Grazier said.
Staff photo by SOPHIA?RUFFIN • Tri-Parish Times * The Lorio Foundation celebrated its 10th anniversary last Wednesday with a Main Street block party. The foundation is a 501 (c) 3 non-profit organization whose has donated more than $9 million to the City of Thibodaux. Pictured are Board of Directors Cam Morvant, Chris Terrecina, Rita Dickie and Ann Hebert.
