Read about our 8 approved programs!

New Orleans Charter Science and Math High School

The New Orleans Charter Science and Math High School focuses on rigorous, lab-based education in science, math, and technology. Science and Math has an enrollment of 300 students who come from diverse ethnic, economic, and educational backgrounds. The school has three projects that Operation Kids and the Brees Dream Foundation will support.

Project 1: Outdoor Sports Area

The school's outdoor sports area is insufficient to meet the needs of a quality P.E. program. The pavement is cracked, the fence is rusty with barbed wire in some places and there is only a small grassy area for the kids to play. The goal is to:

Re-pave a large section of the courtyard
Improve the drainage
Paint lines for a basketball court and replace the fence
Purchase new sports equipment

Project Cost: $60,000
Project Timeline: April – July 2007

Project 2: Professional Electives Program

This is a unique program that recruits outside professionals to teach a class in their area of expertise for a semester. It provides students with exposure to experts working on real issues in scientific, mathematical, and technological fields. The classes, offered as electives for credit, allow students to choose different areas of specialization such as:

GIS mapping
Botany
Industrial arts
Architecture

Project Cost: $140,000
Project Timeline: August 2007 – June 2008

Project 3: Summer Science Internships

Summer science internships offer a unique opportunity for students from the Science and Math High School to intern in scientific and research settings in New Orleans. Next summer the school hopes to place 50 students in internships in places such as Tulane and LSU Health Sciences Center and Ochsner Foundation Hospital. This program has literally changed lives as students begin to comprehend what doors are open to them beyond high school.

Project Cost: $80,000
Project Timeline: Summer 2008


New Orleans Outreach

New Orleans Outreach improves the quality of public education in New Orleans by bringing together volunteers and other resources to provide desperately needed resources to several local schools. The students served are 95 percent African-American and 96 percent qualify for the federal free or reduced-cost lunch program. Operation Kids and the Brees Dream Foundation will support the following projects (Watch Video):

Project 1: Community Involvement Evaluation

With the proposed funding, Outreach will:
Create a rigorous and comprehensive evaluation tool to determine the effect of community involvement in schools
Quantify community resources, volunteer hours, and the value of that time
Quantify changes in academic achievement for kids enrolled in after-school elective programs

Project Cost: $100,000
Project Timeline: August 2007 – August 2008.

Project 2: Program Enhancement

Outreach's after-school programs recently suffered a 66% cut in funding, necessitating the elimination of wonderful school partners who taught media arts and theater to children in grades K-12. Outreach will use funding from Operation Kids to:
Re-establish and augment program offerings
Increase the number of qualified artists and sports professionals to teach, coach, and inspire kids enrolled in Outreach's programs
Provide additional transportation for students
Offer much-needed, high-quality summer programs

This program will keep over 1100 New Orleans children engaged and learning in a safe environment.

Project Cost: $200,000
Project Timeline: August 2007 – June 2008


New Orleans Recreation Department (NORD)

Before Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans in August 2005, the New Orleans Recreation Department (NORD) managed more than 130 parks across the city, from small 'pocket parks' to 187-acre Joe W. Brown Park, and provided much appreciated green spaces with playgrounds, walking paths, pools and athletic facilities of all kinds. Hurricane Katrina physically impacted nearly every park, rendering many unusable for most or all programs and services. Today, many New Orleanians, especially children, simply have no place to go to learn, compete, relax and play. Operation Kids and the Brees Dream Foundation campaign will initially help restore two badly damaged parks in New Orleans.

Restoring Two Important City Parks

Milne Playground and Pontchartrain Park will be restored as follows:Repairs will be made to the electrical systems in the concessions buildings in both parks Lighting systems will be restored and rebuilt in both parks. Renovating these facilities will provide a place for thousands of children to play and neighbors of the parks with access to needed green space.

Project Cost: $250,000
Project Timeline: Summer 2007 – December 2007


Lusher Charter School

Lusher Charter School is a K-12 New Orleans public school that focuses on a high-academic college-preparatory curriculum, with early college credit classes through Tulane University, gifted/talented programs, Advanced Placement courses, and academic challenges in every classroom. Additionally, the school has award-winning performing arts programs and a strong athletic program with numerous other extracurricular opportunities. Substantial damage caused by Katrina left many of the school’s facilities in need of major repair, including the athletic field, which funds from Operation Kids and the Brees Dream Foundation will help restore.

New Athletic Field
Support for this project will allow the school to:
Refurbish Lusher’s athletic field to provide soccer, football, softball and baseball facilities
Upgrade the facility by re-grading, re-sodding, and providing bleachers, scoreboard and lighting for nighttime use

The new field will impact students from Lusher Charter School, New Orleans Charter Science and Math High School and other surrounding schools. It will also be used for after-hours recreation leagues. Thousands of players will directly benefit from use of the field over the years, the community will gain an important gathering place, and the schools will gain a new source of pride from the performance of their teams.

Project Cost: $670,000.
Project Timeline: June 2007-December 2007


The Edible Schoolyard at Green Charter School

The mission of The Edible Schoolyard at Green Charter School in New Orleans is to create and sustain an organic garden for students in grades K-8 to participate in gardening and cooking lessons that reinforce classroom coursework in core subjects. The project is based on the Edible Schoolyard at Martin Luther King Middle School in Berkeley, CA, a project of renowned chef Alice Waters and the Chez Panisse Foundation. Green Charter School is an open-access, public school serving grades K-8. Operation Kids and the Brees Dream Foundation will provide financial support for the Edible Teaching Garden. Watch Video

The Edible Teaching Garden

Plans are in place to use funding to:Transform a large parcel of land into an Edible Teaching Garden, complete with an outdoor classroom, outdoor kitchen, potting shed, and garden areasDevelop an Edible Kitchen where harvested produce will be prepared and shared as part of the curriculumUse the food and growing traditions of New Orleans to nurture, educate and empower youth while building community

Students who develop an appreciation for local food and culture and learn gardening and cooking skills understand teamwork and community membership at a new level, are healthier, have better grades, and display improved behavior. As Alice Waters stated: “The Edible Schoolyard teaches children the moral obligation to be caretakers and stewards of the finite resources of our planet. And it teaches them the joy of the table, the pleasures of real work and the meaning of community.”

Project Cost: $350,000 (partial cost of a total of $1,500,000)
Project Timeline: Spring 2007-Spring 2009


Greater New Orleans Rebuild Child Care Collaborative

Hurricane Katrina delivered a devastating blow to the child-care industry in New Orleans and created a serious shortage of child-care services in the city that has prevented many displaced families from returning. The Greater New Orleans Rebuild Child Care Collaborative (GNORCCC), through the United Way’s Success by 6 initiative, is an effort to rebuild those facilities while upgrading the quality of child care across the city. Operation Kids and the Brees Dream Foundation is evaluating various child-care centers on an ongoing basis but will begin by funding the following project (Watch Video):

Royal Castle Development Center

Royal Castle Child Development Center is located in the Gert Town section of New Orleans and has been providing high-quality child care to low income families for over a decade. Royal Castle, which has a capacity of 100, sustained significant flooding during Hurricane Katrina and has been slowly rebuilt and partially reopened in October 2005. Now Royal Castle is engaged in an effort to become one of the few nationally accredited child care centers in New Orleans during the next year.

Project Cost: $73,000
Project Timeline: Summer 2007


Best Buddies Louisiana

Best Buddies®, an OK-Approved Charity, enhances the lives of people with intellectual disabilities by providing opportunities for one-to-one friendships and integrated employment. Founded by Anthony Kennedy Shriver in 1989, Best Buddies aims to establish meaningful, lasting relationships that help increase self-esteem, confidence and the abilities of people with and without intellectual disabilities. It has middle, high school and college chapters throughout Louisiana, but its program in New Orleans was seriously disrupted by Katrina. Operation Kids and the Brees Dream Foundation will fund the development and expansion of this program. Watch Video

Rebuilding the Buddy System

Best Buddies needs funding to recruit and train volunteer buddies in the New Orleans area and establish 10 new chapters.Each chapter will have at least 20 ‘matches’ of buddies and peer buddies at the middle school and high school levels, resulting in at least 200 new volunteers. It also aims to expand its e-Buddies® program from 28 participants to 48 within a one-year period.

Project Cost: $78,000
Project Timeline: August 2007 – August 2008


Beacon of Hope Resource Center

The Beacon of Hope Resource Center provides information, resources, and support for Katrina-affected residents in an effort to accelerate rebuilding and their eventual return to home. As the rebuilding process accelerates, a domino effect happens, and the battle to save a neighborhood is won. Currently, the Lakewood Beacon is highly effective in achieving this goal, and plans to expand the program into new locations for the benefit of other communities. Operation Kids and the Brees Dream Foundation are funding the expansion of this program so that more families can benefit from its concept.

Opening Additional Beacon of Hope Centers in Neighboring Communities

As part of New Orleans' recovery, Beacon of Hope would like to open Centers in more neighborhoods, such as Gentilly. Specifically, funds will help with:

Lawn and yard clean-up equipment
Hosting neighborhood events
Printing, office equipment
Program maintenance costs

Project Cost: $60,000
Timeframe: July – December 2007