St. Landry-Evangeline Women United
Woman With Heart Awards
“Woman With Heart” Recipients for 2024 Announced
Opelousas, La – April 9, 2024 The Women United of St. Landry-Evangeline United Way hosted its 12th Annual Women With Heart Luncheon and Awards event on Wednesday, May 8th, at the Opelousas Civic Center. This popular event awarded two outstanding women from six nominees from St. Landry and Evangeline Parish respectively.
According to Ginger LeCompte, Executive Director of St. Landry-Evangeline United Way, “Almost 200 attendees were inspired by the stories of our six nominees, with any one of them deserving of the Woman With Heart award.”
The St. Landry Parish “Woman With Heart” award was received by Shawana Johnson of Opelousas. Johnson owns “Wild Child”, a boutique clothing shop that also gives other women the opportunity to sell their products in her store. As a military veteran who served her country, Johnson now serves her community through organizing blood drives, Covid vaccination events, and conducts on-going diaper and coat drives. As a certified birth doula, she effectively advocates for pregnant women and their babies.
Kimberly Bourgeois, the Evangeline Parish awardee of the “Woman With Heart”, is a lifelong Mamou resident, business owner and active member of the Evangeline Parish Chamber of Commerce. Her coffee shop, Mou Latte’ is a hub for yoga classes, coffee gatherings, weddings, and other special occasions. She organizes the local Christmas market, “Boo in the Mou” for youth, often absorbing costs herself. Bourgeois established a non-profit, “The Mou-vement” to assist in improving her community. Probably the most inspiring is how her personal loss of a child led her to establish Pathways of Hope, a place to memorialize and honor the lives of children who have passed too soon.
Women With Heart Recipients
LeCompte stated, “Featured on the program were women entrepreneurs sharing their journeys; and ironically, both of our recipients of the “Woman With Heart” award are business owners who have found a way to merge businesses with their passion for community service.”
Proceeds from this event will support the Dolly Parton Imagination Library (DPIL) and other programs and projects related to women and children’s issues.
Women United is an affinity group of United Way with over 75,000 members globally. The mission of the St. Landry-Evangeline United Way Women United is to focus resources and volunteer efforts on issues surrounding women, families and children through programing, fundraising and advocacy. Recent activities have included funding the childhood literacy program, Dolly Parton Imagination Library (a free book program targeting children age 0-5); Little Free Libraries (free-standing book exchange kiosks); and community education related to legislative work on domestic violence, human trafficking, pay equity, and early child development.
