Louisiana · 2025
54,803Reports of suspected child abuse or neglect received by Louisiana DCFS.
We're raising $1.2 million to build a permanent home for Brooke It Forward.
Every child deserves to feel remembered, valued, and loved. Brooke It Forward shares the love and hope of Christ through Birthday Boxes for children facing abuse, neglect, foster care, food insecurity, or homelessness. Our new home will give this mission room to grow.
The children behind the need
Across Louisiana, thousands of children face abuse, neglect, the uncertainty of foster care and other difficult circumstances. Behind every statistic is a child with a birthday—a day to feel remembered, valued, and loved.
Louisiana · 2025
54,803Reports of suspected child abuse or neglect received by Louisiana DCFS.
Louisiana · 2025
7,449Children served in foster care statewide during the year.
Covington Region · 2025
958Children served in foster care across the five-parish DCFS Covington Region.
Source: Louisiana DCFS, March 2026 factsheet (calendar year 2025, pp. 1 and 5). Reports are not a count of unique children or confirmed victims. Regional foster care figures are included in the statewide total. The Covington Region includes Livingston, St. Helena, St. Tammany, Tangipahoa, and Washington parishes.
Brooke It Forward's Birthday Boxes are more than party supplies. In the hands of counselors, advocates, and caregivers, they become tools that support trauma-focused care. Baking a cake together, practicing calming breaths by blowing out a candle, and celebrating a child's individuality create opportunities for connection, sensory engagement, and felt safety—reinforcing the message: You matter. You are loved. You are worth celebrating.
Make Room for Joy will give our volunteers and team the space to prepare more of these meaningful tools—and equip more of the people helping children heal.
Seven years of growing joy
Each move helped us reach more children. Now our space is once again limiting what we can do.
Children served across South Louisiana to date
Children we are on pace to celebrate in 2026
Making every volunteer hour count
Our current 1,000-square-foot location has just 600 square feet of open workspace. Supplies fill both offices, leaving no dedicated staff offices and little room for an efficient flow from assembly to finished boxes.
The space to serve more children
Purposeful space for supplies, volunteers, and the team behind every celebration.
Select a view above. Click any image to open it full-size.
Renderings and floor plan are conceptual and subject to change as the design is finalized.
Approximately 3,000 square feet of operational space will provide dedicated areas for organizing supplies and for assembling, checking, and packaging Birthday Boxes.
Corporate teams, school groups, churches, and other community groups will have space to serve side by side, which means more helping hands preparing more celebrations.
Approximately 1,000 square feet of administrative space will support agency partnerships, volunteers, donations, and day-to-day operations.
Accessible supplies, efficient work areas, and space for more volunteers will give us the infrastructure to grow the number of children we serve each year.
The purpose behind the place
Hear from the people who help turn birthday supplies into moments of celebration, connection, and care.
Watch on YouTube · About 4½ minutes
"What is more sensory rich than baking a cake together?"
Our partners bring the relationships and expertise. Brooke It Forward provides the Birthday Boxes that support those moments, and now we need room to prepare more of them.
Your part in the plan
Be part of creating a home for the work behind every Birthday Box.
Joy comes full circle
Allie received Birthday Boxes while in foster care. Today, she volunteers with Brooke It Forward to pass that joy on to someone else.
"Working with Brooke It Forward has brought so much joy into my life, and it's helped me find somewhere I know I'm making a difference in the world."
Every gift brings us closer
57.4% of our goal
$511,740 to go. As gifts come in, our candle fills with color.
Updated October 16, 2026.
Choose the way that works for you
Helps stock supplies for Birthday Boxes headed to children in our partner agencies.
Helps furnish a workstation where volunteers assemble and check Birthday Boxes.
Helps equip dedicated space for group volunteer days.
Lead gifts and naming opportunities. Let's talk about a space that carries your name or honors someone you love.
Brooke It Forward Foundation · EIN: 84-2137707
Brooke It Forward Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Gifts are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law. Please consult your tax advisor.
Please include your contact information for a gift acknowledgment, and let us know if you prefer anonymous recognition.
We'd love to talk about multi-year pledges, naming opportunities, and a tour of our current space. Contact either Jessica Valladares, Executive Director, at jessica@brookeitforward.org or Marie Gregory, Founder/Board President, at marie@brookeitforward.org or call: 985-900-2433.
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The people helping shape our future
Behind this project are professionals pouring their time, talent, and care into Brooke It Forward's next chapter.
A place to prepare. A place to gather. A place where the next celebration begins.
Give now
