On Thursday, May 9th, Keller Williams volunteered at the Santa Rosa Beach pantry as part of "Red Day," the real estate agency's day of service.  Red Day stands for, "Renew, Energize, Donate, and Keller Williams celebrate's this day of service every year on the second Thursday in May.  

This year, the local Keller Williams Agency was able to help Food For Thought pack snack bags, which are used for teachers to distribute to students if they come to school hungry. In addition, Keller Williams donated 1,600 food items and they helped our team to sort and stock these donations in the pantry.  

We appreciate our local Keller Williams agency taking time from their day and using their Red Day to volunteer at Food For Thought!

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. 

On average, teachers pay, out of their OWN pocket, $60 a month to provide food for kids in their classrooms.

After our founder, Tiffanie Nelson, experienced first hand a school nurse unable to comfort an elementary student due to hunger, Tiffanie saw another need that could be met by Food For Thought: provide snacks to school staff to hand out to kids to help bridge the hunger gap in the classroom.

Food For Thought Fun Fact: 245K Snacks are provided throughout the school year!

Since 2012, Food For Thought Outreach has been providing 47K snacks per month to schools in Okaloosa and Walton counties.  This has been a resource for teachers and school staff to help kids who may come to school hungry and are unable to concentrate, as well as lesson the burden on the teachers.  

Donations that are made to Food For Thought not only support the weekly Backpack Program, but also support teachers to bridge the hunger gap at school through the Snack Program.

To learn more, please contact us: support@fftfl.org

To Donate, click HERE