BATON ROUGE — Raising Cane's founder and CEO Todd Graves is donating $75,000 to keep the Big Buddy Program afloat in Baton Rouge. 

According to Cane's, Graves, a former mentor in the program, donated to cover an urgent funding shortfall at Big Buddy.

Graves' donation will help pay the nonprofit's staff as they continue mentoring, after-school and enrichment programs for local children and families. 

Graves previously committed to donating $10,000 annually for a decade starting in 2019. He will be advancing the remaining $30,000 and contributing an additional $45,000 personally to meet the organization's immediate needs, a Cane's spokesperson added in a statement Thursday.

"Our families count on us, and our staff are the people who make it possible to keep that promise," Big Buddy executive director Gaylynne Mack said. "Having to tell them their pay would be delayed was something we had never faced before. Todd understood what was at stake and stepped in when we needed him. He was a dependable Mentor all those years ago, and he is still showing up for our children today."