Believe it or not, Summer is almost over, which means…Back to School! Help kick off the school year by sponsoring a school or student in Okaloosa or Walton County.  For $1,000 per semester, you can sponsor a school; for $270 a year, you can sponsor a student.

Sponsorship will include all in-school programs that FFT supports: Food & backpacks for the weekly Backpack Program, and food for the snack program for one school.

Get together with your friends, family, or coworkers and sign up for a sponsorship today!

https://fftfl.org/pages/backtoschool-2019-sponsorships

Full List of Schools Available for Sponsorship:

Our program coordinator, Bennet Bastian, has had quite the array of experiences prior to joining the team at Food For Thought. A world traveler and volunteer with The Peace Corp, Bennet is fluent in four additional languages (German + 3 Ethiopian languages).  His two years experience with the Peace Corp and as a public health contractor in Ethiopia lead him to Food For Thought when he returned to his home on the Emerald Coast. 

During his time in Ethiopia, Bennet focused on public health, organizing volunteers and gardening, which has translated well to his role at Food For Thought as the program coordinator.  He spends his time supporting the programs at each of the pantries (backpack, snack and garden), and definitely has become our go-to-guy for anything related to the Full Circle Garden, as he helps to keep them flourishing. In addition, Bennet is key in helping our program director facilitate the packing and delivery of the backpacks and snacks to each of the schools among the two counties FFT Serves.

Bennet enjoys the interaction he has with the volunteers that come to help Food For Thought, and was drawn to FFT outreach knowing that it is helping to benefit kids in our community that are in need.  A native of Okaloosa County, Bennet said that if he were a kid today, he would likely have been a beneficiary of the FFT program as he was on the reduced meal program in school himself.  

We appreciate all the hard work that Bennet does coordinating our backpack, snack and garden programs and are very thankful that he has a green thumb!

In order to keep all of the Food For Thought programs in order, there is a lot of action that takes place behind the scenes, and Dinelle Putman keeps all things "programmatic" going as the Food For Thought Program Director.  

For the last year, Dinelle has worked as the Program Director, overseeing all five of the year-round programs here at Food for Thought. This includes managing and directing a team for the Backpack, Snack and Summer Programs, as well as overseeing the Full-Circle Kitchen and Full-Circle Garden.  Dinelle ensures that each of these programs has all of the resources necessary and that they are running efficiently as each program has been growing.  Being the Program Director here at Food For Thought is an integral part of making sure Food For Thought Outreach continues to meet the needs of the kids in our community.

Dinelle has not always worked in the non-profit sector, but has always been drawn to, and had the desire to work for a non-profit or mission of some sort.  After serving as a volunteer for Food For Thought through the bank she managed, Dinelle was drawn to the mission of FFT and began to look into more opportunities to work or serve.  She was pleasantly surprised when, in March of 2018, there was a full-time position available for a Program Manager.  Her 15 years of banking experience, the last three of which as an assistant branch manager, has lent her well to be able to direct the four programs at Food for Thought.

Working at Food For Thought has allowed Dinelle to feel like she has a career that has meaning and purpose, and she loves that she is also able to be a part of and give back to her community.  Dinelle is looking forward to being part of the growth of Food For Thought, and excited for the new warehouse to open in DeFuniak Springs, allowing FFT to better serve the kids in Walton County. 

As the heartbeat of Food For Thought Outreach, here is an update to what our Backpack Program currently provides.  Each week, students who are on a free and reduced meal plan at school, receive a backpack of food to bridge the hunger gap they face over the weekend at home.

Food For Thought Fun Facts:

• 33rd school added during the 2018/29 school year
• (this program began with one school just 10 years ago!)
• 3,300 Students are served each week in two counties
• 40K food items are purchased and distributed every week
• 250 volunteers are needed every week to fill the backpacks

In order to fill the backpacks with 10 food items for these students, it takes $5 per student, per week, as well as volunteers to pack and deliver these backpacks to schools across Okaloosa and Walton Counties. 

We are very proud of how this program has evolved over the last ten years and excited to see how the backpack program will continue to grow to serve more families in need in our community.  

Learn more today to volunteer or donate at: www.fftfl.org