Food For Thought Outreach, a local 501(c)3 organization that works to bridge the meal gap in the lives of food insecure children in Walton and Okaloosa counties, is pleased to announce they have received a $58,398 grant from The St. Joe Community Foundation’s “Read to Feed” program.
The Foundation’s Read to Feed initiative grants $0.25 to Food For Thought Outreach for each Accelerated Reader (“AR”) test with a score of 80% and above completed by Walton County School District elementary students. In the 2024-2025 school year, Walton County elementary students successfully scored above 80% on 233,592 AR tests to set $58,398 as the Foundation’s contribution to Food For Thought Outreach. This surpassed the 2023-2024 school year of 220,445 AR tests which provided $55,111.50 to the organization. Since program inception in the 2022-2023 school year, the Read to Feed initiative has raised over $167,000 to support the mission of Food For Thought Outreach.
“This is just epic,” said Cathy Hall, coordinator of instructional support/ESOL for Walton County School District. “Last year at the school board meeting, we were challenged to beat our Read to Feed 2024 total of $55,111.50 which was an amazing accomplishment, and we did it by raising $3,286.50 additional dollars for a total of $58,398 for Read to Feed. We are so proud of our students who achieved 233,592 total AR points!”
“The St. Joe Community Foundation is proud to continue this collaboration with the Walton County School District and Food For Thought Outreach to support the Read to Feed Program,” said April Wilkes, executive director of St. Joe Community Foundation. “Not only does it provide an incentive and encouragement for youth to enhance their literacy skills, but it also gives them a glimpse of what it means to serve others through Food For Thought Outreach’s mission.”
The funds raised through the Read to Feed program will be used to further Food For Thought Outreach’s goal to bridge the meal gap and empower students to get the most out of their education. Currently, over 3,600 children are enrolled in their year-round programs and all funds raised from the program will go towards those programs and help even more kids throughout the year.
“We are so happy to see how this initiative continues to drive reading results across the Walton County School District,” said Tiffanie Nelson, founder and CEO of Food For Thought Outreach. “Our mission at Food For Thought Outreach is to remove the negative impacts of hunger and empower children to get the most out of their education. Read to Feed is the perfect embodiment of our mission. During the 2024-25 school year, Food For Thought Outreach provided weekly services to over 3,600 food-insecure children in Walton and Okaloosa Counties. Grant funds like these from the St. Joe Community Foundation provide critical funding for our programs.”