The St. Joe Community Foundation is excited to announce that in only the second year of the program, Walton County elementary students raised $54,312.50 for the local non-profit Food for Thought Outreach through the “Read to Feed” initiative. The Read to Feed initiative grants $0.25 to Food for Thought Outreach for each accelerated reader test with a score of 80% and above completed by a Walton County School District elementary student. The St. Joe Community Foundation donates the funds that Food for Thought Outreach will use to provide free lunches to Walton County students in need.

In the 2022-2023 school year, Walton County elementary students successfully scored above 80% on 217,250 accelerated reader tests to set $54,313 as the St. Joe Community Foundation’s contribution to  Food for Thought Outreach. Previously, in the 2021-2022 school year, students determined the Foundation’s $46,290 contribution by completing 185,000 accelerated reader tests with a score of 80% or above.
“We challenged the students of Walton County to step up their efforts in order to support their friends and classmates, and they came through in a big way,” said The St. Joe Community Foundation Executive Director April Wilkes. “This program not only supports Food for Thought Outreach in their mission, but it also simultaneously encourages reading and scholastic achievement. We are proud to be a part of it.”

“Since its inception, Food for Thought Outreach has provided hundreds of thousands of meals to students in Walton County as we fight to end food insecurity for local children,” says Tiffanie Nelson, Founder and CEO of Food for Thought Outreach. “This grant allows us to continue to do that work, and the Read to Feed initiative empowers the students of Walton County to help make a difference for their peers who may otherwise go hungry.”

With the end of the school year, Food for Thought outreach will transition into their Summer Services beginning June 5th! FFT will be ready to serve Walton and Okaloosa counties across 5 distribution locations with 75% fresh food for the family. Last year, the group distributed 55 cases of fresh produce each week and over 8,000 Lunchables and cheese snacks per month. See how you can help support the FFT summer efforts below. #youcanhelp a family in need by donating using the link below or text FFTFRESH to 44321. You can feed a whole family for the week for just $40. Make an even bigger impact and choose to feed a family for the entire summer.

If your business or organization would like to help make a positive impact within the community, we have summer sponsorship opportunities available. Your business can help empower us to:

•Provide 8 weeks of service across 5 locations in Walton and Okaloosa

•Ensure consistent access to food over the summer for the children we serve

•Help food-insecure children who are at risk to miss 110 meals this summer

•Distribute 75% fresh items for the summer.

 Visit www.fftfl.org for more information.