OUR STORY

Employees 1st has deep experience in providing disaster and hardship grants. 

For nearly 20 years, we have delivered emergency grants to employees after natural disasters and to assist them after personal hardship. We get money to your workers in need. Fast.

Employees 1st is a program of the Employee Assistance Foundation—a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt, public, non-profit organization. The program was started in 2005 by the Baton Rouge Area Foundation.

The Baton Rouge Area Foundation ranks among the largest of more than 800 U.S. community foundations, managing more than $750 million in charitable assets. Its first disaster grants were awarded after Hurricane Katrina. Companies provided the Foundation with money to help their workers scattered by the storm. The Foundation made grants to employees of McIlhenny Co, the maker of Tabasco sauce; Oreck Vacuums, Emeril Restaurants.

Soon after, the Foundation established Employees 1st, which became a program of a new supporting organization, Employee Assistance Foundation. Through these entities, we have built a scalable system to accept thousands of donations per hour and to efficiently deliver emergency assistance grants to people wherever they live in the United States.

Employees 1st allows companies to establish emergency assistance funds that are in place to award grants when employees are in need.