We are few weeks in to the 2018-2019 school year with 33 schools and 3,300 kids across Okaloosa and Walton county enrolled in our program! We need your help now more than ever to be able to provide food for the growing list of kids who need our services. Check out our website to find ways to get involved!

Our backpack program has been an integral part of Food For Thought since the beginning. It takes time, effort and countless volunteers to cover each step of the backpack program to ensure that 3,000 kids in Okaloosa and Walton counties receive their backpack.

Food insecure children leave school for the weekend knowing that their next meal isn't guaranteed until the next school day. That means nearly 7 meals are missed before they return to school on Monday expected to show up ready to engage with their peers and learn from their teachers. The backpack program alleviates the stress on a hungry children providing a sense of security knowing food is going home with them for the weekend. We are dedicated to empowering children to get the most out of their education and help them develop along with their peers. 

Every day of the week has set tasks that are necessary to complete to get the backpacks from FFT to the students!

Monday & Tuesday- Volunteers help the FFT staff count and sort backpacks in the Destin and Santa Rosa Beach pantries. Inventory is taken of food to set up the packing assembly line.

Wednesday- Volunteer groups pack over 1,600 backpacks in the Destin pantry to be distributed to the Okaloosa county schools on Thursday. 

Thursday- Volunteers load up the FFT vans, Norma and Betty, or their vehicle to distribute backpacks to Okaloosa schools. The Santa Rosa Beach pantry is busy with volunteer groups packing over 1,200 bags to be distributed to Walton county schools on Friday. 

Friday- Volunteers load up Norma and Betty or their vehicle to distribute backpacks to Walton county schools. By Friday afternoon 3,000 backpacks have been delivered to 32 schools to ensure kids don't go hungry through the weekend. 

 Our mission to fight child hunger is supported by dedicated volunteers and donors. If you're interested in getting involved with the backpack program check out our website for more information or contact us at volunteer@fftfl.org

Based on data from 2015-16 school year and summer, FFT estimated over 6,000 total volunteer hours.  What does that mean for the backpack program?  It is like having 3 extra full-time employees for the year, at no cost!!  This information is based off of serving 1,200 students in 2015-16.  Projections calculate the number of students we serve will be double from the 2015-16 statistics to have a total of 2,400 students in 27 schools.  With the new students comes a higher demand for volunteers; in short, we need volunteers!!

New Volunteer Orientation is today, March 22 and will be the last group session until this summer.  Please plan to attend and bring a friend!!

4:30pm - Destin Pantry - 908 Airport Road