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ABOUT

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

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Our Values

Foster Respect

We offer our services to every student on a free or reduced meal plan in the schools we serve. We also maintain open enrollment in our programs, as we understand that school populations change, as do the needs of the communities we serve.

Health Focused

We work tirelessly to align all aspects of our organization with opportunities to ensure each backpack provided includes healthy grains, fruits, vegetables, and protein so our child recipients and their families can easily prepare the healthiest meal possible.

Promote Volunteerism

We strengthen our volunteer-base almost daily, which brings new ideas, energy, support, and love into our organization. It is our goal to provide our communities with a local, positive, hands-on volunteer experience.  We welcome volunteers of all ages and encourage student and team volunteerism. Our volunteer base packs and distributes food, organizes our pantry, and supports our events. We depend on our volunteers to help make our work possible.

Establish Roots

We have taken root with support from our entire community, and in just a few short years have expanded our reach through two counties and into 35 schools, serving hundreds of children throughout the entire year.

The mission at Food For Thought Outreach is to bridge the meal gap in the lives of food-insecure children and empower them to get the most out of their education. We know that students coming to school after missing multiple meals do not learn or develop at the same rate as their peers, and the goal at FFT is to provide year-round services to take students from K-12 without the fear, stress, and illness related to childhood hunger.

Established in 2010, Food For Thought Outreach started as a small family project to serve food-insecure students in one school for one year. With a $300 budget, Founder Tiffanie Nelson partnered with her son’s school to begin providing critical access to food to children in need. Over the past fifteen years, Food For Thought has grown into the go-to organization for fighting childhood hunger in Walton and Okaloosa Counties. The organization has grown to meet the ever-changing needs of the community and currently provides weekly access to food to 3,600 food-insecure school-aged children across 36 school locations.

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Our Mission

Our mission is to remove the negative impacts of hunger, and empower a child to get the most out of their education and development by providing them weekly access to healthy, easy to prepare meals.

HOW WE ENROLL

HOW WE ENROLL STUDENTS INTO OUR PROGRAM

Our enrollment is open to students from Pre-K to 12th grade at partner schools who are eligible for free or reduced-cost lunch meal programs.

 

Enrollment forms are included in school orientation packets that go out to every student at the beginning of the school year. We accept students into our programs at any time during the school year.

 

If you want more information about how we enroll schools and students, please email tiffanie@fftfl.org.

HOW WE ADD A NEW SCHOOL

Schools reach out to us when they need our services and are placed on our waiting list in the order in which they apply. As our resources grow, we can move schools from the waiting list and into our programs.

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WHERE WE SERVE

OKALOOSA COUNTY

Destin Elementary

Elliott Point Elementary

Kenwood Elementary

Mary Esther Elementary

Lewis School (Elementary & Middle)

Edge Elementary

Longwood Elementary

Florosa Elementary

Shalimar Elementary

Wright Elementary

Destin Middle

Pryor Middle

Bruner Middle

STEMM Academy

NWFL Ballet Academie

Okaloosa Academy

Niceville High School

WALTON COUNTY

Bay Preschool

Freeport Learning Center

Butler Elementary

Dune Lakes Elementary

Freeport Elementary

West DeFuniak Elementary

Maude Saunders Elementary

Mossy Head Elementary

Wise Center/ 1n10sity

Paxton School

Walton Middle

Freeport Middle

Emerald Coast Middle

Walton Academy

Walton High School

Freeport High School

South Walton High School

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