Brookshire Brothers and its more than 6,500 employee-owners have a legacy of giving that spans nearly a century. For more than a decade, the Brookshire Brothers Charitable Foundation has furthered that mission by providing sizable grants to nonprofit organizations in the communities it serves across Texas and western Louisiana.

Despite COVID-19 related challenges, grants were given to 33 nonprofit organizations across the state of Texas this year, including in Lufkin, Nacogdoches, Zavalla, Jasper, Newton, Dublin, Vidor, Burkeville, Brenham, Jacksonville, Bryan and Houston, as well as three educational foundations in Lufkin, Carthage and Vidor.

“Undoubtedly, this year has been a struggle, especially for nonprofit organizations. The Brookshire Brothers Charitable Foundation was greatly affected by the COVID-19 crisis, as we were forced to cancel both of our annual charity golf tournaments – our primary fundraiser each year,” said Brookshire Brothers Charitable Foundation Board Chairman Sally Alvis. “However, due to the support and benevolent donations from many of our vendor partners, we are pleased to distribute more than $75,000 in grants this year."

With the desire to closely follow COVID-19 social distancing recommendations, the charitable foundation decided to forgo its large, traditional ceremony and host a “drive-thru” styled event for recipients in the Angelina County area. For those nonprofits outside of Lufkin, individual check presentations were held at their local Brookshire Brothers stores.

“We want our grant recipients to know how much we appreciate them and the work that they do,” said Brookshire Brothers’ Public Relations Manager Melissa Crager. “We thought this would be a fun, unique way to say, ‘Thank you!’”

The nonprofit organizations who received grants this year include:
•    Alcohol & Drug Abuse Council of Deep East Texas
•    Angelina Alliance for Children
•    Angelina County Second Helpings
•    Boys & Girls Clubs of Deep East Texas
•    Buckner Children & Family Services
•    Burkeville Food Share (Burkeville, TX)
•    Carthage ISD Education Foundation
•    CASA for Kids of South Central Texas (Brenham, TX)
•    Christian Men’s Job Corp
•    Concerned Black Men of Lufkin
•    Dublin Goodfellows (Dublin, TX)
•    East Texas Cancer Alliance of Hope
•    Friends of the Ellen Trout Zoo
•    Harvest Compassion Center (Jasper, TX)
•    HOPE: Helping Others Pursue Enrichment (Jacksonville, TX)
•    Junior Achievement of East Texas
•    Junior League of Lufkin
•    Kick Drugs Out of America (Houston, TX)
•    Legacy Institute for Financial Education
•    Lufkin ISD Education Foundation
•    Newton Food Share (Newton, TX)
•    Pregnancy Help Center of Lufkin
•    Seasons of Hope Center
•    Solid Foundation Association (Nacogdoches, TX)
•    The Coalition
•    The Joseph House
•    The Mosaic Center
•    The Salvation Army of Lufkin
•    Transformation Pathway (Dublin, TX)
•    Twin City Mission (Bryan, TX)
•    United Christian Care Center of Vidor, TX (Vidor, TX)
•    Vidor ISD (Vidor, TX)
•    Volunteer Services Council
•    Women’s Shelter of East Texas
•    Women’s Sober House
•    Zavalla Food Pantry

“We are honored to provide these grants to further the good work these organizations do in their communities,” Alvis said. “We are humbled by their passion to serve, which is never more apparent than in these unprecedented times.”