They started with the flood, and they’re not stopping at the pandemic. In the true spirit of altruism, Baton Rouge Emergency Aid Coalition was created after the 2016 flood by a group of women who banded together to help the community. Because, hey–to a group of working moms, what’s one more thing on your plate?

Now, in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, BREAC members Claire Cashio, Lisa Jain Weldon, April Ruffolo, Dr. Ashley Saucier, Dr. Emily Smith Grezaffi and Michelle Forte are stepping up once again and giving frontline workers some much-deserved love.

“I think our mission through the years has really stayed the same,” explains Cashio, one of BREAC’s founding members. “We just really want to do what we can to fill in the gaps that larger organizations can’t.”

Through the Scrub Grub initiative, BREAC donates meals from local restaurants to hospitals and nursing homes.

“You’ll call a nursing home and you know they’re just so overwhelmed,” says Cashio. “It’s so rewarding to know you’re putting a smile on their face, and at the same time, helping a local restaurant.”

In a similar vein, BREAC is partnering with Mighty Moms and Louisiana Culinary Institute through the Feed a Family program, which aims to provide hearty meals to families facing food insecurity.

Not only that, but BREAC has also partnered with Varsity Sports for Front Line Soles, an initiative that donates shoes to critical-care workers who never seem to get a minute off their feet.

And don’t expect a break from BREAC anytime soon.

“We’re still going” says Cashio. “The reason why BREAC has endured and why the women involved are so passionate about it is that we can fill some of the holes the larger organizations can’t. It means so much to us, especially when we get an individual family, or a very small circumstance, and we know we’ve really made a meaningful difference.”

To learn more about BREAC, check out this inRegister article, or visit the group’s website or Facebook.