St John the Baptist Parish has been chosen to receive over $27,000 in Federal Funds under the “Emergency Food and Shelter National Board Program,” to supplement existing emergency food and shelter programs in the parish, Greg Maurin, Vice-President of St John United Way and chairman of the Local Emergency Food and Shelter Board, announced last week.

The selection was made by a national board of affiliates of national voluntary organizations and chaired by the Federal Emergency Management Agency and consists of representatives from The Salvation Army, American Red Cross, United Jewish Communities, Catholic Charities, National Council of Churches of Christ, and United Way of America.

This board is charged to distribute funds appropriated by Congress to help expand the capacity of food and shelter programs in high-need areas around the country.

The local board (made up from representatives of local affiliates of above agencies, other local agencies and the Parish President’s Office) will determine how the funds awarded to St John Parish are to be distributed among the emergency food and shelter programs run by local service organizations in the Parish. To be eligible, agencies must be nonprofit, have an accounting system, practice nondiscrimination, have demonstrated the ability to run emergency food and/or shelter programs and if private, they must have a volunteer board.

For more information about the program, call Maurin at 985-652-7058 or St John United Way at 985-651-9118 by Jan 30, 2009.