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If you have any information for the Community Calendar, please email it to justin.schuver@bogalusadailynews.com.

Chicken and sausage gumbo fundraiser

The Franklinton Masonic Lodge 101 will have a chicken and sausage gumbo fundraiser on Friday, March 4, from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m. at the pickup location of 901 Cleveland St. in Franklinton. The prices are $7 for 16 ounces and $14 for 32 ounces. For more information, call 985-515-0083.

Magic City Madness

Join together with the Bogalusa Parks, Recreation and Culture Commission for “Magic City Madness — A Celebration of Bogalusa” in the month of March. The competition will be from March 6-12 and there will be a points system. Purchase a wristband for the Shamrock Shuffle for 20 points. Visit a local small business, post a photo in the business to Facebook, tag the business, and tag Bogalusa Parks, Recreation and Culture while including the hashtag “#magiccitymadness” for 1 point. Make a purchase at a local small business, post a photo of the receipt to Facebook, tag the business, and tag Bogalusa Parks, Recreation and Culture while including the hashtag “#magiccitymadness” for 5 points. Visit a local park, post a photo from the park to Facebook and tag Bogalusa, Parks Recreation and Culture while including the hashtag “#magiccitymadness” for 3 points. All posts must be dated between March 6-12, 2022. Points will be calculated and the winner will be awarded a grand prize. If there is a tie, the winner will be drawn from eligible participants.

YouthBuild Bogalusa

YouthBuild Bogalusa (YBB) is enrolling students for its program. To gain entry in the program, a student will need to be between the ages of 16-24, and have not graduated from high school or earned his or her HISET. The new applicant will take the TABE placement test, in order to gain entry in the program. There will be testing for placement, Monday through Thursday every week from 9 a.m. until noon. YBB offers opportunities in educational aid in passing the HISET, Carpentry Skills (NCCER Certification/OSHA 30), mentoring, AmeriCorps (educational stipend/award), CNA, and welding, along with life skills (community involvement/leadership skills). YBB provides monetary incentives to learn — up to $500 every two weeks. YBB also has a full-time Case Manager and Counselor on staff. If you have any interest in the program or know of any one that will benefit from the program, visit YBB at 1242 Austin St. in Bogalusa, or call 985-545-1622.

Bogalusa Balloon Festival

The Bogalusa Parks, Recreation and Culture Commission will be presenting the “Bogalusa Balloon Festival” from May 20-22 at George R. Carr Memorial Airfield, located at 401 Walker St. in Bogalusa. More information will be released in the future.

Parish alert system

Stay alert by enrolling in the Washington Parish Emergency Notification System. This alert system provides rapid notification of emergencies, critical events and urgent situations. The alert system can send notifications through the following methods: phone call, text, email or TTY/TTD service for the hearing impaired. Landline phones are automatically entered for the alert system. To receive alerts through a mobile phone or email, a citizen must register through one of the following options: call 985-282-2620, text “Alert” to 985-282-2620, or sign up online at www.hyper-reach.com/lawashingtonsignup.html. Citizens can also download the Hyper Reach Anywhere app to any smartphone. This alert system is completely free.

Bogalusa Help Center

It’s easy to smile when someone cares, and Bogalusa Help Center, our local food bank, cares. It is now a drive-through operation, located at 350 Martin Luther King Drive in Bogalusa. It is open from 8 a.m. until noon every Wednesday (except the fifth Wednesday of the month) providing food to those in need in our community. Since partnering with Second Harvest Food Bank/USDA, and along with generous donations from our community, BHC now distributes 35-40 pounds of food each month to over 400 families. These distributions include canned goods, meat, dry beans, peanut butter, fresh fruit and vegetables, etc. New clients can apply each week. They must provide: Name of head of the household; driver’s license or ID; address; number of persons in the household and ages; and SNAP or SSI printout, or proof of income of all in the household. Donations are always very much needed and appreciated. BHC may be reached at 985-735-6404 every Wednesday.

Ongoing services at the Bogalusa library

• The Bogalusa branch of the Washington Parish Library offers a variety of services throughout the year. Faxing is available for $1 per 20 pages, and copies can be made for 20 cents each (black and white) or 50 cents each for color. There is also free computers for use — the first five copies are free, and it is 10 cents a copy after the first five.
• Patrons have free access to ancestry.com at any Washington Parish Library, and free access to heritagequest.com from any home or personal device, as well as a large selection of genealogy materials at the Bogalusa and Franklinton branches.
• The Bogalusa branch receives current copies of local and national newspapers, as well as popular magazine publications. The public is invited to sit in the comfortable reading center to enjoy their favorites.
• For students, the Homework Louisiana website offers a variety of assistance methods, including a live online tutor, “Skills Builder,” homework help and tutoring for kindergarten through basic college level, a writing center, a career center and an adult education center.

KLB grant program

Keep Louisiana Beautiful (KLB), the state’s leading community improvement organization, seeks programs and activities to fund with its Healthy Communities Grants. KLB has awarded over $3 million in grants to support local programs that reduce litter and waste, increase recycling, strengthen litter enforcement, and promote environmental education. Interested parties should submit a “Letter of Intent” highlighting their proposed grant project. After reviewing the letters, KLB will extend invitations to formally apply to the programs that are closely aligned with the goals of the grant program. Letters of Intent will be accepted now until Friday, March 4. Letters may be submitted to KLB via direct mail or email. Grant award amounts vary from $2,500 to $8,000. Non-profit organizations, schools, universities, municipalities, and parishes are eligible to apply. To learn more about the grant, funding restrictions, and letter of intent guidelines, visit KLB’s website at keeplouisianabeautiful.org/grants/healthy-communities-grants.