The deadline to register for this year's Love All Tennis Tournament is Thursday, May 16th! If you have not registered yet, do so quickly as there are only 8 team spots available! Sign up today, HERE!

This event will be held at Rosemary Beach Racquet Club on May 18th and will host 24 doubles teams; running from 8a - 5p. 

As we are prepping for the Summer Meal Program, Food For Thought will be hosting three separate food drives in Walton and Okaloosa county.  At each location, the Food For Thought Van will be present, where you can bring a pre-packaged food item to donate for the summer meal program.  There are 600 families that are part of the FFT Summer Meal program, creating a need for 6,600 food items to be distributed to these families.

Here are the dates and locations for each of the "Cram the Van" Food Drives so you can help:

At the Pizza-by-the-Sea, Watercolor Crossings Location, if you bring 5 food items to donate, they will give you 50% off of a pizza purchased (same day).

At the Destin Winn-Dixie and at Grand Boulevard, bring in 10 items to Cram the Van, and you will be entered into a drawing.

Suggested pantry items:

During each of these food drives, a Food For Thought Staff member will be there to answer any questions, as well as share current volunteer opportunities.  

Look for one of the Food for Thought Vans at each of these locations to drop food off.  Thank you for your support to keep kids from being hungry over the summer!

 More Event Info HERE

Last week we at Food For Thought were honored to have Paula Deen stop by the Santa Rosa Beach Pantry! Paula and her foundation, The Bag Lady, graciously donated a $2,500 grant for Food for Thought.  

We are excited that Paula Deen has opened up two new restaurants in our area, "Paula Deen's Family Kitchen," in Panama City as well as a location at the Destin Commons.  Her new restaurant will also be partnering with Food For Thought 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. 

During her visit last week, Paula was able to see and help kids from the Walton Academy cook some of her very own recipes in the Full Circle Kitchen (pork chops and brussel sprouts), and she even leant a hand to the volunteer packing groups that were busy in the pantry prepping backpacks for the weekend.

Before leaving, Paula was even so kind to share in a blessing of the meal the students from Walton Academy had prepared.

We are so thankful for Paula Deen's generosity and look forward to working more together in the future to assist the children in our community.  

You can find out more information on Paula's visit to her new restaurant on the local news site, WEARTV.

We are so thankful for our seasonal sponsors who have helped bridge the hunger gap while school is out of session.  This past school year, Apex Disaster Specialists and Bay Baits were our seasonal sponsors who enabled 600 families to be be fed over the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays.  Ensuring that our kids are fed over school breaks is crucial, as on average kids on free or reduced meal programs miss ten meals over Thanksgiving break and 20 meals over Christmas break.

Our work continues this summer. Would you consider to become a seasonal sponsor to help support children in need in your community while they are out of school and removed from the free and or reduced meals they depend on?  600 families will receive a month's worth of food three times over the summer months with your support of $10k.

If you are interested in becoming a seasonal sponsor and have more questions, please email our team today: Support@fftfl.org

Learn More Information Here to become a Seasonal Sponsor: 

https://fftfl.org/pages/corporate-sponsorship

Our Crawfish Boil is THIS SUNDAY, and we want you to join us! If you have not signed up already, now is the time! 100% of all proceeds will be used for Food For Thought's Summer Program; you do not want to miss out on this fun family event!

The Crawfish Boil will be held at our Santa Rosa Pantry (Directions can be found HERE) from 12-3pm on Sunday, May 5th.  We will be featuring the culinary talents of Michael McIntosh (Henderson Beachwalk Cafe) and David Cunningham (Formerly a Chef at Trebeche).  During the Crawfish Boil, you will also be able to enjoy the music of Scott Rockwood and Friends.  This is a family friendly event, so please come join us!

Tickets can be purchased HERE our site.

$20 for Adults // $10 for Children