Operation Reach

The staff of Operation REACH, Inc. and the Knowledge Garden Child Development Center hopes that 2012 is your best year ever.

The administrative office and the Knowledge Garden Child Development Center will be closed Monday, December 26 through Friday, December 30, 2011 in observance of the Christmas and New Year Holiday. All offices will open on Monday, January 2, 2012. Our very best wishes to you for a joyful and safe holiday season!

The Gulfsouth Youth Action Fund (GYAF) is a youth-led philanthropy initiative developed in 2007 by Operation REACH, Inc., in conjunction with the Greater New Orleans Foundation (GNOF), and made possible through generous support from the Blue Cross Blue Shield Foundation, The Starbucks Foundation, and Legacy® Foundation, as well as private donations. The GYAF engages, empowers and inspires youth with resources to make strategic investments in creating youth-driven change in their community. The Gulfsouth Youth Action Fund’s Youth Advisory Board supports progressive, youth-led and youth-driven initiatives that demonstrate the power of youth motivated to create change in their community. Grant awards range from $500 to $5,000.

We have stars in our eyes…four stars to be exact. The Knowledge Garden Child Development Center has been awarded four stars by the Louisiana Department of Children & Family Services.

The Gulfsouth Youth Biodiesel Project, a program of Operation REACH, Inc., is collecting used cooking oil from households frying turkeys this Thanksgiving. The collection campaign runs from Monday, November 28 through Saturday, December 3, 2011. However, days and times vary at each location. Oil should be replaced into original container before being dropped off. All [...]

Members of the Gulfsouth Youth Action Fund (GYAF) will lead a Technical Assistance Workshop for youth-serving, youth-led organizations interested in applying for GYAF and Legacy Tobacco Control Grant (LTCG) grants. The Technical Assistance Workshop will take place on Wednesday, November 16, at 6:00 p.m. at the National Headquarters of Operation REACH, Inc. (ORI), located at [...]

Recently, 38 participants began their journey towards the pursuit of a college education. College Bound began with the enthusiastic participants taking their pre-entrance examinations to determine the scores they would make if taking the ACT test immediately.

The Gulfsouth Youth Action Fund (GYAF), a youth philanthropy initiative that engages youth as leaders and empowers them with the resources to make strategic investments in their peers and their communities, is seeking nominations for the 2011 Youth Change Maker Awards. These prestigious awards honor outstanding young people, ages 7 through 25, who have shown [...]

Sixty eight participants from the Gulfsouth Youth Action Corps (GYAC) completed a successful Summer of Service on Friday, August 5th during a celebration at ORI’s National Headquarters. Throughout the summer, each of the GYAC members served 450 service hours with a host site partner organization to enhance program quality, expand and/or upgrade existing programs, and [...]