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.

All of us at Food For Thought are so thankful for the volunteers that help with all of our programs! Today, we would like to thank Linda Koch for all of her help that she has provided in the Emeril Lagasse Full Circle kitchen.  Please read below to find out what it means to Linda to volunteer at FFT:

After retiring two years ago from PepsiCo in Dallas, Linda moved to Emerald Coast.  It was important to her to remain busy and to get involved in the community while she was retired. When Linda learned about Food For Thought Outreach, she knew that she had to get involved, and she loves that she is able to help kids to cook at the Santa Rosa Beach pantry, but her time volunteering has also showed her how important it is to get involved and give back as a retired person

At a fund raising event Linda attended over a year ago, is when Linda first signed up to help in the Full Circle Kitchen.  She knew that she has enough knowledge about cooking and time to help, so decided to sign up that night.  

Linda has been volunteering with Food For Thought for a year and a half and enjoys her time cooking with the kids.  She said that "seeing the excitement in their eyes when they are able to create food that tastes delicious to them," is what she enjoys the most.  And she has noticed that it builds the kid's confidence when they see how easy it is to make some of the food dishes that are taught to them and hopes that it gives the kids energy to try and cook more outside of the FFT Full Circle Kitchen. "When I hear them tell their friends they can’t wait to come back next week, I know we’ve done something good that day," said Linda. 

Linda said that ever since she raised her hand at the fundraising event, she has been looking forward to every class that she has taught with the kids!

We are very grateful for you, Linda and all of our volunteers!

If you would like to sign up to volunteer, please contact us: volunteer@fftfl.org

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: 

Wow, what a great event the Love All Tennis Tournament in Rosemary Beach event turned out to be! 

A huge thank you to Hilary & Reverie Properties for organizing and sponsoring this event, as well as a thank you to the many other sponsors who donated food, time and items for the silent Auction.  This sold-out event raised more than $14K for Food Thought, and we are so grateful!!

We hope that our 48 players enjoyed their day playing in the sun; it definitely was a warmer day than expected but all the players looked to be having a great time.

In addition to a full day of tennis, the auction lot did not disappoint.  Thank you to the local businesses who donated for the silent auction:

• Lizard Thicket Boutique
• Sunset Helicopter Flight
• Dinner for 4 by Roux 30a
• Spa treatment from Destin Plastic Surgery
• IV treatments from Aesthetic Clinic
• Escapology Escape Rooms Destin game package,
• Dinner for 6 by Macho Taco
• (and many more items were available as well!)

Keep an eye out for the 2020 Love All Tennis Save the Date; this event will most definitely be back in 2020!