“The military is a big part of our community,” said Fort Walton Beach Police Chief Robert Bage. “Research has shown us anywhere between about 40% and 60% of our residents or our service population come from either retired military or active military.”
Logos honoring each branch of the military are centered on the hood of the truck, and other decorations honoring those who have been killed or gone missing in action decorate the back end.
“This truck is a symbol and a reflection of our commitment to the community and to our partners in the community,” Bage said. “We can never forget the sacrifices of our men and women who wear uniforms every single day to keep our country free and prosperous.”
Special to the Northwest Florida Daily News/USA TODAY NETWORK
FORT WALTON BEACH The Okaloosa Arts Alliance (OAA) announced the winners of the 12th annual OAA Okaloosa County School Poster Contest.
The theme for this year s contest, which went online for the second year amid the COVID-19 pandemic, was “Family Time. All 142 student entries are viewable online. To see all the entries, visit to https://www.okaloosaarts.org/oaa-2021-virtual-poster-contest.html.
Participating schools included Rocky Bayou Christian School, Crestview High School, Silver Sands School, Meigs Middle School, Lewis Middle School, Bluewater Elementary and Plew Elementary. Eglin Federal Credit Union donated gift cards for all the winners and Fort Walton Beach Sam’s Club additionally covered two extra third place winners. Each first-place prize was a $75 gift card, each second-place prize was a $50 gift card, and each third-place prize was a $25 gift card.
Since then, individuals and families across the region who were financially impacted by COVID-19 turned to UWEC and its nonprofit partner agencies to provide them with critical services and basic needs such as food, stable housing and medical care.
Starting with a donation of $125,000 from the Gulf Power Foundation, UWEC’s COVID-19 relief fund raised a total of $318,888 that was distributed to 20 local nonprofits providing rent, utility and mortgage assistance; emergency food and shelter; health care; and child care. UWEC cannot begin to express enough gratitude to their corporate partners who contributed to the COVID-19 relief fund including: Gulf Power, Beach Bank, Wind Creek Hospitality, Eglin Federal Credit Union, United Way Worldwide, Florida Blue, Publix, Wells Fargo, Hancock Whitney, Beast Code, SunTrust/Truist, Whole Foods Markets, the White-Wilson Community Foundation, Humana, Step One Automotive Group, and more than 40 individual donors, a news release from Unite
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