BATON ROUGE — The Baton Rouge Area Foundation on Tuesday said that it has issued $300,000 in grants to 19 local nonprofits working to improve early childhood education and community safety.

BRAF said the funding was issued following findings from its Opportunity Data Project.

"These Impact Grants represent a critical investment in the organizations doing essential work," Eric Dexter, BRAF's vice president of civic leadership initiatives, said. "They are the true drivers of our shared goal: ensuring every child enters kindergarten ready to succeed and fostering a safer, stronger community."

The following groups received grant money: 

100 Black Men of Metropolitan Baton Rouge, Ltd.
Baton Rouge Early Childhood Education Collaborative, Inc.
Big Buddy Program
Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Louisiana
Community in Schools - Gulf South
Exceptional Lives Inc.
Gardere Community Christian School
Gardere Initiative
Generation Upward Foundation
Knock Knock Children's Museum
LAUNCH
Louisiana Center for Children's Rights
Mary's Hands Network
Pointe Coupée Early Childhood Coalition Inc
Someone Always Cares Foundation
Southeast Louisiana Legal Services
Southern University Child Development Laboratory
The Walls Project
YMCA of the Capital Area

The funds for the grants were provided by donations through BRAF's Impact Funds. More details about these funds can be found here.