Dear 24 Hour Citizen Community!

First of all, thank you so much for believing and funding the Global Bites vision.

More than ever, I think we need this to celebrate our local international communities, their food and culture.

The event is still scheduled for Tuesday, April 21st evening on Polk Street right by Parc Sans Souci.

Since right after I found out that we won the funding, I have been working on logistics and planning. I have had meetings with Festival International, LPD, Fire department, Coca Cola and DDA among others to keep things moving forward.

I have an amazing small but powerful team (Marissa, Faryal, Moussa, Geoff & Remil) who have been a huge help in advising and guiding me. We have been meeting regularly as well.

I have reached out to some communities and we are already at 9 cuisines! Was hoping for 8-10 and think I will stick with max 10 cuisines to make sure everyone makes money.

I will be ordering the passports (your entry ticket to this event) next week and am starting to order other products (passport stamps, plateware, signage) in the next 2-3 weeks.

Just wanted to give you guys a quick update,

—
Merci,

Sami Parbhoo

Since our last update, meaningful progress has been made toward launching Certify Teens, a workforce readiness initiative designed to remove barriers to life-saving and job-ready certifications for youth across rural Acadiana. Over the past several weeks, we finalized partnerships with training providers, confirmed host sites, secured instructor availability, and completed planning for our first certification session. Our first CPR and BLS class is scheduled for March 19th in partnership with New Vision Leadership, where we will certify 25 high school students.

This phase of the project has also been marked by deep loss. Our team and the broader Acadiana community recently lost Stephanie Smallwood, a valued team member and board member who was integral in helping bring this initiative to life. Stephanie was a true force in our region and was widely known for her powerful on-air presence, her unwavering commitment to community engagement, and her willingness to show up and support initiatives like this one. Her impact extended far beyond the microphone, and the community truly lost a legend. Certify Teens will move forward in her honor, carrying the spirit of service, connection, and empowerment that she embodied so well.
In addition to the March CPR training, we remain on track to host both CPR and ServSafe Food Handler certification sessions during the upcoming spring break at partner sites in Eunice, New Iberia, and Lafayette.

These goals include certifying 90 youth ages 14 to 19 during the pilot phase, integrating soft skills training, and using interactive, hands-on instruction to build confidence and self-reliance. We have also established a new goal of collecting employer feedback by interviewing 90 local businesses to better understand the skills and credentials that increase a teen’s likelihood of being hired.

One lesson learned during this phase has been the importance of pacing and coordination. Aligning schedules across schools, instructors, and youth-serving organizations required more time than initially projected, but this adjustment strengthened the program’s foundation and confirmed the value of strong partnerships. While the loss of a key team member has been difficult, we remain committed to completing this work with care, intention, and excellence. We are grateful for the continued support that allows Certify Teens to move forward while honoring the past and building opportunity for the future.

Dear Community,

We are beyond excited to share that the 1st issue of Lafayette Kid News was released on February 1st!!! This first issue featured our creator and editor, Audrey Dupre, as the Kid of the Quarter, along with a letter from the editor sharing how this newspaper came to be through the 24 Hour Citizen Project and generous backers. We also had a 4th grade class contribute poems, a boy submitted a recipe for French toast, lots of sports stories, a gallery of artwork, an advice column, funny jokes, some holiday specific puzzles and games, community service stories, and a full calendar of events. The local talent and creativity of our youngest citizens was on full display.

Currently, this newspaper is available to pick up or view at your local public libraries, Children’s Museum of Acadiana, Lafayette Science Museum, Sunday’s Soda Fountain, Southern Speech, Coreil Orthodontics, Delarue Dance Centre, and several LPSS elementary and middle schools. We are continuing to expand to other locations – so stay tuned to our social media for updates.

Since beginning this project, we have learned so much and continue to learn new things daily. Printing and shipping 1500 copies of this first issue cost $1500. We are currently working on finding a local printing company to decrease the shipping and overall cost. We have also begun discussing advertisement and sponsorship opportunities with several kid-friendly, local businesses to keep this newspaper going long term. Lastly, we are working on establishing the LKN as a nonprofit organization.

Feedback has been overwhelmingly positive and we are so thankful for everyone’s kind words, encouragement, and praise. This project would not be possible without the kids submitting content and backers support. The Lafayette community is filled with incredible individuals and we are so happy to call this place home.

Be on the lookout for our next 3 issues being released on May 1st, August 1st, and November 1st and follow us on Facebook and Instagram for updates.

Sincerely,
Audrey, Luke, & Layne Dupre
Team Lafayette Kid News

Dear Community:

Team F.O.O.D. started the 24 Hour Citizen Project with a big goal in mind: establish three more free fridges and pantries (otherwise known as Freedges) in the Acadiana area. With the help of local resources and the funding provided by 24HCP, we were actually able to set out FOUR new locations for community fridges! Amazing!

The process of setting up a new fridge is quite lengthy. First, we have to find a willing sponsor to allow F.O.O.D. to place a fridge on their property. We must come to an agreement and establish guidelines with new fridge hosts, and line everything up legally for the fridge, structures, and hosts to be protected. Then, we must gather all the materials and set up a date with contractors to build shelters for the fridges. Lastly, it’s build day… we like to make it a big event when a new fridge is constructed, because it is a huge gift to the community!

Fridge #1 will be the Christian Life Center Community Fridge, located outside the church at 411 Verot School Road. This fridge will be run in part by The Brandon Mason Project, another wonderful local nonprofit. So far, we have had a fridge donated by Foodies of Lafayette, and we are scouting for materials. The build day is set for March 28… make a note! More details to follow. Side note: The Brandon Mason Project would like to involve the youth in decorating the fridge enclosure. We happen to love that idea!

Fridge #2 will be located in Breaux Bridge at Raccoon Oak Farms, which has all the supplies ready to go and is just awaiting their contractor. The build date is still to be determined, but we are aiming to have this fridge up and running before Festival Internationale 2026.
Fridge #3 will be at Grand Coteau’s Thensted Center, at 268 Church St. We will be reaching out to continue the process once the first two fridges are built, in early April.
Fridge #4 does not have a set location just yet, but it will be located as closely as possible to the Evangeline Thruway; any blocks of Willow, Moss, and the Thruway motel streets that would allow for safe pedestrian passage would be ideal.

Those are all the updates we have for now, Community, but rest assured that Team F.O.O.D. is working tirelessly to see these fridges come to life. Thank you for your love and support, check in with you soon!

Dear Community,

Hello again! We’re excited to share some updates since our last letter in May. Over the past few months, our team has been focused on the art side of the Art on Wheels project, while our bicycle racks are in the final stages of fabrication with HydroBlade.

This summer, we received valuable help from the Acadiana Center for the Arts (ACA) in developing the Call for Artists guidelines and form, which we published soon after. We’re grateful to the ACA staff for their assistance and for organizing a table for us at ArtWalk on August 9th to promote the Call for Artists. Beyond ArtWalk, we’ve distributed flyers across the community—posting them in coffee shops, art studios, bicycle shops, downtown businesses, Super One Foods, and more. A heartfelt thank-you to all the supportive community members and businesses who helped us spread the word!

The Call for Artists opened on August 1 and will remain open until September 15. Between October 1–22, the two selected artists will paint the bicycle racks. In November—exactly one year after Art on Wheels received funding from the 24-Hour Citizen Project—we’ll install the finished racks and celebrate with a ribbon cutting and a group bicycle ride.

Our next steps include building a panel of judges to review the designs. We will finalize our list of approved weather-resistant paints suitable for painting on metal and select a primer and sealer that will be provided to the artists. We are also in the beginning stages of planning the ribbon-cutting event. We have finalized installation details with the 811 OneCalls and plan to install the painted racks on a Saturday in November with our installers. We are planning to finalize the ribbon-cutting details, group ride route, and the date and time of the installation in September. In the meantime, we can’t wait to see the designs submitted!

If you are an artist, we invite you to submit a design with the Call for Artists Form. Artists of any age and skill level are encouraged to apply. If you’re interested in a Bike Rack Art Mural for your business, we invite you to fill out the Interest Form. Stay tuned to our social media pages on Facebook and Instagram for more project updates as we try to create a more colorful, bike-friendly community here in Lafayette!

Sincerely,
Blair Begnaud, Gabe Griffard, and Matthew Dufrene
Team Art on Wheels
artonwheelslafayette@gmail.com

Dear Community,

Thank you for celebrating Mental Health Awareness Month with our (E)motion picture event. We were able to connect with nearly 40 Acadiana residents and use film as a catalyst for conversation.

Families attending were treated to a red carpet experience with an abundance of Hollywood glamour. We rolled out the red carpet, popped the popcorn and settled in for an enjoyable viewing of the 90’s classic Homeward Bound. Following the movie, 5 qualified mental health professionals dedicated and donated time to leading family conversations about emotions experienced during the film and modeled how to process these feelings through conversation. These professionals donated nearly $600 worth of services through their time facilitating family discussions at the event.

Families completing the post event survey unanimously expressed that they would participate in another (E)motion picture event were one offered. Respondents noted how impressed they were with how the event sparked conversation for their families.

We are so grateful to 24 Hour Citizen Project for their generous funding of the project and to Children’s Museum of Acadiana for serving as our host site for the event. Thank you to all who attended, volunteered, and cheered us on along the way. We have loved serving Acadiana in this way and can’t wait to see you all again at the movies.

Dear Community,

It took three months from the time we received our grant funding to shop for all the items needed to stock our community pantries. By shopping in-store at Dollar Tree, Walmart, and Sam’s Club, we were able to save a great deal on shipping fees and stretch our budget further. With great care and intention, we purchased essential cleaning and hygiene supplies to support families in need.

We successfully stocked closets at two separate locations and maintain an overflow pantry at home to ensure we can restock each site each month. The pantries are filled with everyday essentials including laundry detergent, dish liquid, body soap, hand soap, all-purpose cleaner, bleach, toothpaste, dryer sheets, lotion, feminine hygiene products, toilet paper, and more. After months of preparation, we officially completed the setup and began servicing both sites on May 1st, 2025, following a ribbon-cutting ceremony held on April 29th. Since opening, we have proudly served over 40 families.

We are deeply grateful for the generous contributions from our backers, the support from our community, and the partnership with the amazing staff at 24hrcp, all of whom helped make this dream a reality. We are currently accepting both tangible and monetary donations from the public and are actively seeking additional grant funding to keep these pantries fully stocked and eventually expand to other areas of the city.

We are also working closely with LHA administration and faculty to ensure these services are used appropriately and benefit those truly in need.

With best regards,
Team Soap and Hope

We hope this message finds you well! We are excited to share an Art on Wheels progress update with you! Since we last saw many of you, our passion for creating a safe and vibrant city for cyclists and pedestrians has only grown. One of our biggest updates—and challenges—has been a change in scope: we are now installing two bicycle racks instead of three. Rising fabrication costs and our decision to switch from a surface mount to a more durable in-ground mount significantly impacted the project budget. During a site visit with installers, we observed that a portion of the surface-mounted racks downtown have not held up over time, and so, for two months, we thoroughly explored alternative designs and installation methods before ultimately choosing the strongest and longest-lasting installation option. While this meant scaling back, we firmly believe that quality over quantity will better serve the community in the long run.

As for our progress, we are happy to report that final locations have been selected downtown and at Super One Foods. We conducted ADA checks and met on site with the installer to flush out final installation details. We have also partnered with Bike Lafayette to be our Fiscal Sponsor as we receive and spend funds related to the Art on Wheels initiative. To continue to promote our project, we have created a logo, Facebook and Instagram pages(@Artonwheels_Lafayette), and ways to support and participate. We have started an interest form(https://forms.gle/k48Fgq52utyTk12J7) for businesses and organizations who are interested in getting a bike rack art mural and started a GoFundMe to raise funds for future racks(https://gofund.me/595db645). We’re excited to announce that Fightingville Fresh, a neighborhood farmer’s market located in an area of town with high cyclist ridership, will receive the first fully crowdfunded bike rack, thanks to generous community support via the GoFundMe. We’re also exploring grants and community funding options so that more businesses and organizations—especially those needing financial assistance—can get their own bike rack art mural in coming years.

Our long-term goal is to install at least 10 Bicycle Rack Art Murals in Lafayette over the next 5 years, averaging about two per year. We hope the first two installations in 2025 will serve as a proof of concept, inspiring more interest and enthusiasm from the community and businesses alike. We hope to make a lot of progress this summer by finalizing the order and starting fabrication with HydroBlade for the first two bicycle racks. By the end of the summer, we would like to have the promotion of the Art Competition started with a Call for Artists sent out to the community. When the competition closes, two winners will be selected in the Fall and then the artists will be given a few weeks to paint the bicycle racks before they are installed at the selected downtown location and at Super One before the end of the year. We will be hosting a group ride and ribbon cutting when the Bicycle Rack Art Murals are installed at the end of 2025.

Our long-term goal is to install at least 10 Bicycle Rack Art Murals in Lafayette over the next 5 years, averaging about two per year. We hope the first two installations in 2025 will serve as a proof of concept, inspiring more interest and enthusiasm from the community and businesses alike. Additional long term goals include a Fun Ride(a fundraiser bike ride), applying for grants, continued promotion like going door to door to businesses who would benefit from installing a bike rack, expanding our team, creating a website, getting on local news stations to talk about Art on Wheels, and continuing to use social media to keep the energy and excitement up.

One of our favorite parts of this project is that all funds stay local—supporting Lafayette’s artists, fabricators, and installers while the community benefits from more art and bicycle parking across town. If you’re interested in a Bike Rack Art Mural, we invite you to fill out the Interest Form. Together, we can make Lafayette a more beautiful, vibrant, and bike-friendly community. Thank you for your continued support of the Art on Wheels initiative!

Sincerely,
Blair Begnaud, Gabe Griffard, and Matthew Dufrene
Team Art on Wheels