This past month, New Orleans Artists Against Hunger and Homelessness (NOAAHH), co-founded in 1985 by Allen Toussaint and Art Neville, distributed $26,000 in grants to 14 charitable organizations in the Greater New Orleans area.

NOAAHH hosts fundraising concerts and galas throughout the year. It  is governed by an all-volunteer board of directors and has, to date, donated $2 million.

Toussaint distributed the grants this year on March 8th at Loyola University’s annual reception for Bread for the World, a national organization that fights worldwide hunger, poverty, and social injustice (particularly pertaining to food rights.)

Bread for the World’s New Orleans chapter was established at Loyola University’s Twomey Center for Peace through Justice in 1980.

This year’s grant recipients collectively represent nearly 500 years of community service.

They included Ciara Community Services, Food for Families, Hope House, Jewish Family Service of Greater New Orleans, Just the Right Attitude, Lantern Light, Luke’s House Clinic, Marinite Bywater Project, NO/AIDS Task Force, Ozanam Inn, Project Lazarus, Raintree Children and Family Services, Southeast Louisiana Legal Services, and St. Jude Community Center.