Tickets on sale for Art of Giving

Tickets are on sale for Food For Thought Outreach’s fourth annual Art of Giving presented by Porath & Associates to be held at 6:30 p.m. Sept. 15 at Churchill Oaks on the Choctawhatchee Bay in Santa Rosa Beach.

Lite bites will be provided by Brotula’s Seafood House and Steamer.

In previous years, the annual art auction has raised more than $180,000 and featured local artists such as Justin Gaffrey, Allison Wickey, Justin Lyons, Chandler Williams, Matt Lyons, Marisol Gullo and Velia Lala.

This year, the local nonprofit is switching it up and turning the event over to the kids for the Art of Giving — Kids Art Edition. Local schools have partnered with local artists, and this year the students will auction off their pieces to help raise funds to fight child hunger.

Ohana Institute will work with the institute’s Director of Events Julie Martin as their artist partner as well as returning Art of Giving artist, Allison Wickey. Cecilia Yglesias Haught has partnered with Noah’s Ark Preschool, Mya Schilder will guide the Northwest Florida Ballet and Gulf Place Artist Billie Gaffrey has partnered with the Seaside Neighborhood School. The students’ pieces, along with their artist partners, will be part of a silent auction alongside many other exciting packages and exclusive local items.

“We really wanted to bring the focus back to the kids,” said Tiffanie Nelson, founder and executive director of Food For Thought Outreach. “This is why we’re all here — to help fight child hunger, to fight food insecurity, and give our local students the best chance to succeed. We’re excited to be back at Churchill Oaks and feature these young artists. Support from community partners like Churchill Oaks is so amazing — they’ve already committed to hosting next year’s event as well.”

In their sixth year, local charity Food For Thought Outreach has gone from serving six children at one school to more than 1,500 children a week across 20 elementary, middle, and high schools in Okaloosa and Walton counties during the 2016-2017 school year and recently served record numbers of families through their summer outreach programs. Food For Thought Outreach provides backpacks filled with healthy, easy to prepare food for students who are dependent on free or reduced school meals to help bridge the gap between school meals during weekends.

To reserve your tickets online, visit fftfl.org/products/art-of-giving-ticket