Jane Thompson, president for financial services for Walmart, Community Center Executive Director Iray Nabatoff and Parish President Craig Taffaro stand with a check for $10,000 from Walmart.

St. Bernard’s newly re-christened Walmart is home to the company’s 1,000th MoneyCenter, where customers can address many of their financial needs. And to celebrate that milestone, Walmart executives traveled to St. Bernard Parish March 16 to host a block party of sorts and to offer a $10,000 grant to a local non-profit organization.

“We’re proud to be back,” said Jane Thompson, president for financial services for Walmart.

Walmart customers arrived March 16 to find free coffee, sodas and jambalaya just outside the store. Shoppers could also win an assortment of gift cards. All those prizes sought to introduce customers to the services Walmart’s MoneyCenter provides, Thompson said.

The real winner during the MoneyCenter celebration, though, was the Community Center of St. Bernard (CCSB) and executive director Iray Nabatoff.
“Our local associates chose the Community Center of St. Bernard [to receive the $10,000 grant,” Thompson said.

The Arabi-based nonprofit organization was a logical choice, Thompson said, because it offers financial literacy programs to residents.

“We polled our community and that was a definite need residents wanted addressed,” Nabatoff said.

Nabatoff said, in partnership with Regions Bank and the Robert Woods Johnson Foundation, CCSB offers a 10-session financial literacy program. He said the $10,000 grant will have a huge impact on the organization’s continued work in the community.

Parish President Craig Taffaro echoed Nabatoff, saying financial literacy and expertise has been an expressed concern for many residents.

“This goes hand in hand with some of the needs they’ve expressed,” Taffaro said.

Walmart will hold similar celebrations in Atlanta; Birmingham, Ala.; Charlotte, N.C.; Dallas; Houston; Orlando, Fla.; Phoenix; Raleigh, N.C.; and St. Louis. Community organizations in those cities will receive $1,000 grants. Walmart plans to open 500 more MoneyCenters in 2010.

To learn more about the Community Center of St. Bernard, go online to www.ccstb.org or call (504) 281-2512.