Cultural Center art.
Photo Courtesy of The Meraux Foundation
By Todd Ragusa
The Meraux Foundation and the St. Bernard Economic Development Foundation are presenting the 7th annual Startup St. Bernard on Thursday, Aug. 5 at The Meraux Foundation’s Docville Farm. The live event, which is free to attend, is a “Shark Tank” style pitch-competition where three entrepreneurs will compete for over $100,000 in cash and in-kind prizes.
Register for your chance to win a $100 gift card to CRAVE! The winner will be selected at the event, and you must be present to collect.
Three finalists will be selected to “pitch” their businesses to a panel of judges on Thursday. This year’s prize package is $101,140, with $53,750 in cash and $47,390 in-kind. All three finalists will receive a cash prize of at least $5,000. In the past, in-kind donations have included services ranging from legal and accounting to marketing and public relations.
In other Meraux Foundation news, the Foundation joined with a deep bench of partners to plant Black Mangrove trees along the coast at Mosquito Bight on Bay Eloi at the east end of St. Bernard Parish.
In addition, the Community Center, a Meraux Foundation grantee that provides emergency food assistance to local families, recently celebrated its new home with a ribbon cutting ceremony.
And finally, the Meraux Foundation has sponsored a series of eight murals to beautify and visually connect a collection of its buildings along St. Claude Ave. within the Old Arabi Cultural District. The public art project is part of a new wave of development the Meraux Foundation has planned for the area.
