The Rosemary Beach Foundation is hosting Brews Bites & Bingo at our Santa Rosa Beach Pantry, Friday, July 26th from 6-9:30! We are so excited to be able to host this event, and also to be selected as a beneficiary of this fundraiser. More details on this event can be found below, as well as a link to purchase event tickets in advance. 

Details: 

• Come early (6 - 7 pm), grab your lucky spot, bid on SILENT AUCTION and enjoy small bites by Grayton Beer Brewpub and Grayton Beer Company
• BINGO starts at 7 pm Win some awesome prizes including the GRAND PRIZE, a $500 CASH JACKPOT!
• Make sure to purchase your ticket in advance to save some dough.

Tickets:

Register & Purchase Tickets HERE
$45 Per Person, $55 after July 10th (Must be 21+ years to play)
(Includes Bingo Book*, Dauber, and Two Complimentary Drinks. *There will be 4 cards per game and 10 games total in each Bingo Book.)

$500 Reserved Table for Eight Players (Ages 21 and up)
(Includes Bingo Book, Dauber, and 4 pitches of beer or 2 bottles of prossecco/rose)

FOR EVEN MORE OPPORTUNITY TO WIN, at the event, you may purchase additional Bingo cards or participate in the 50/50 SPLIT THE POT RAFFLE. (Participants may purchase more than one book, but they cannot be split between players.)

SILENT AUCTION ITEMS include artwork gift baskets, restaurant and retail gift cards.  All proceeds will benefit Food For Thought Outreach and the Rosemary Beach Foundation.

Donations are still needed for the remaining two summer services! Each of the Food For Thought Pantries are open on Tuesdays from 8:30 - 4:30 to accept donations.

Please take this suggested shopping list the next time you go to the store and grab a few of these items to help feed kids for the rest of the summer. OR take a look in your own cupboards to see if there are any food items you are not using that could be donated for our summer meals. 

If you would like to make a monetary donation, you can do so here: 

https://fftfl.org/pages/summer-program-support

Volunteer spots are also available to help pack and distribute the remaining too food services.  The last two food distribution dates are July 1st and July 29th. 

Email us today: volunteer@fftfl.org if you are interested in helping in this way!

Just two weeks away is the 2019 Smoke on the Coast BBQ & Fireworks Festival at the Destin Commons! Join us July 3rd from 5pm to 9pm for BBQ, music and fireworks.

Food For Thought is excited to be partnering with Paula Deen's Family Kitchen this year, and grateful to be one of the benefiting charities from this event.  In addition to the Smoke on the Coast festival, we are also looking forward to partnering with Paula Deen's Family Kitchen, as they will be able to donate un-used or leftover food to be used in the Full Circle Kitchen cooking classes.  This un-used food will be air-sealed so that it can be kept as fresh as possible for the cooking classes. 

The BBQ & Fireworks festival is sure to be a great family friendly event, so make sure to stop by to taste not just the BBQ our team will be serving, but also the many other teams and charities participating.  Below is a list of the teams, and in total, more than $85K will be raised to donate to the benefiting charities in our area.

Participating Barbecue teams and their partnering charities include:

- Heritage Museum of Northwest Florida is partnering with Cold Creek BBQ
- Dog-Harmony is partnering with Cafe Rico
- Destin Boys & Girls Club of the Emerald Coast is partnering with BIG Red Truck
- Habitat for Humanity ReStore Fort Walton Beach & Crestview is partnering with Hub City Smokehouse and Grill
- Children in Crisis, Inc. Florida is partnering with B&C Fire Safety
- Gulf Coast Council BSA is partnering with Smok'n Scouts BBQ Crew
- Youth Village, Inc. is partnering with Waste Management - Fort Walton Beach, FL
- Air Force Enlisted Village is partnering with The Gulf Restaurant on Okaloosa Island
- Rotary Club of Destin is partnering with Rotary Club of Destin
- Jobs4U, Inc. is partnering with Lillie's Q
- Food For Thought Outreach Inc is partnering with Paula Deen's Family Kitchen
- Emerald Coast Science Center is partnering with Bow tie bbq and catering
- Shelter House is partnering with The One and Culinary Pirates
- Opportunity Place, Inc. is partnering with B's Smoking Barbeque
- Niceville Rotary is partnering with Smokin Hot Wheels
- Junior League of the Emerald Coast is partnering with Buh's BBQ - Dry Memphis Style Rub and BBQ Sauces
- The Taylor Haugen Foundation is partnering with BrightView

In addition to plenty of BBQ to taste, there will be live music performed by Heritage and The Forrest Williams Band, with a fireworks show at the end of the night. 

We are looking forward to this event, and hope that you will join us!

More information can be found HERE.

What a great way to kick off our Summer Program food drive! Thank you to Pizza by the Sea, Winn-Dixie and Grand Boulevard for hosting our vans to collect food items for our summer program. There was a great turn out at each location over the last two weeks, and we are grateful to you and your customers for helping to fill our pantry for the summer.

Look below at the number of food items that were collected through each location; these donations have helped to provide for our first summer service earlier this week: 

• Pizza-by-the-Sea: 1,227 food items
• Winn-Dixie Destin: 801 food items and $1K in monetary donations
• Grand Boulevard Farmer's Market: 355 food items and $135 in monetary donations

We still are collecting donations for the 2nd and 3rd summer meal service.  You can drop off donations at any of the pantry locations on Tuesdays, from 8:30-4:30, or donate online HERE. 

A portion of the donations from Cram the Van:

Pizza-by-the-Sea: