Thank you, Shoreline Church for your day of service at the Destin Pantry! We are so grateful for your time to come clean up the outside, build us a new shed for the garden, and also for your 638 Food Donations, which will help kick off the new school year.  We appreciated you giving back to your community! Look below to see all the hard work their team put in on a hot Saturday afternoon cleaning up outside of the Destin Pantry and even building a beautiful new shed!

Are you savvy/experienced in the kitchen?! We are looking for volunteers to lead and assist cooking classes for students in the Emeril Lagasse Full Circle Kitchen.  Not need to be a professional chef! Menus are simple and easy to follow and lead; we just need people who like to cook and want to teach and lead kids in the kitchen!

For more information, please email:
volunteer@fftfl.org

See below photos from recent classes - it's a fun time had by all!

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!

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