Acadiana Educational Endowment Incorporated

ENDOWMENT OF PUBLIC SCHOOLS

IN 2012 THE ORGANIZATION WAS ADVERSELY AFFECTED BY THE ONGOING RECESSION AND HAD TO SUSPEND SOME OF THE WORK SUPPORTING EDUCATION, PARTICULARLY THREE WEBSITES; BOOKSXYZ.COM, THE ONLY LARGE NONPROFIT BOOKSTORE ON THE WEB, CAJUNFUN.COM, ONE OF THE EARLIEST EVENTS CALENDARS ON THE WEB SUPPORTING EDUCATION, ARTS AND CULTURE IN THE REGION AND ULTODAY, THE ONLY STAND-ALONE INDEPENDENT MEDIA COMPREHENSIVELY COVERING ANY UNIVERSITY. ALL THREE ARE STILL ON-LINE, BUT LARGELY WITHOUT CONTENT.WE ARE AWAITING THE RECOVERY TO DETERMINE IF WE WILL BE ABLE TO RESUME NORMAL OPERATIONS IN THE NEAR FUTURE.IN 2015, OUR BINGO REVENUES WERE BARELY ENOUGH TO MAINTAIN BASIC FUNCTIONS, AND WE CUT A NUMBER OF FUNCTIONS. NEVERTHELESS, WE HAVE BEGUN FUNDING RESEARCH BETWEEN THE CECIL J. PICARD CENTER FOR EARLY CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT ON THE UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA CAMPUS, AND THE FAMILY PRACTICE RESIDENCY PROGRAM AT THE ADJACENT UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER, TO PROVIDE MENTORING FOR MOTHERS TO BEGIN READING TO BABIES IMMEDIATELY AFTER BIRTH, AND EVEN PRENATALLY, AND TO TRACK THE RESULTS. THIS IS PARTICULARLY IMPORTANT, AS ALL CURRENT PROGRAMS (E.G., THE US COLLEGE OF PEDIATRICS' ROAR, REACH OUT AND READ) URGE MOTHERS TO BEGIN READING TO CHILDREN AT 6 MONTHS OF AGE.