The Escambia County Public Schools Foundation received a generous donation from Florida Power & Light Company in support of the Tools for Teachers supply warehouse. The announcement was made during the Pensacola Blue Wahoos’ Education Day; sponsored by FPL, the event brings together thousands of local students for an educational day at the game.
Tools for Teachers is an online Teacher Resource Store that provides free classroom materials for teachers and their students, helping to prevent teachers from spending their own money on much needed supplies. Funded through grants and donations like this, the store carries items such healthy snacks for students, Band-Aids, pencils, erasers, copy paper, glue sticks, Ziplock bags, paper towels, tissues, dry erase markers and more. FPL’s $12,500 donation will provide free classroom supplies for hundreds of teachers.
FPL has proudly supported the Pensacola Blue Wahoos Education Days for the last four years, reinforcing its commitment to connecting learning opportunities with real-life experiences for students. Beyond this initiative, FPL offers other education grants such as the Classroom Makeover Grant and EmPOWERing STEM Grant programs.
Visit FPL.com/Education for details.
Foo Foo Festival announces grant recipients for 13th annual iteration
The Pensacola Foo Foo Festival Committee recently announced the public grant scoring for the 13th annual Foo Foo Festival, naming 12 grant recipients and allocating nearly $500,000 in grant funding for this year’s events.
This year’s grant winners include 309 Punk Project, Ballet Pensacola, Fiesta Pensacola, Friends of Downtown, Japan-America Society of Northwest Florida, Night Moves Inc, PenArts, Pensacola MESS Hall, Pensacola Museum of Art, Pensacola State College, Pensacola Opera, and Pensacola Symphony Orchestra. The 2026 Foo Foo Festival will take place Oct. 29 through Nov. 9.
The 2026 grant recipients will produce a series of events across the categories of fine art, live music, dance, anime, immersive theatre, and more at this year’s cultural celebration.
Non-profit organizations that were not selected, and for-profit partners who are interested in participating, are encouraged to do so as a “Friend of Foo,” receiving local, regional, and national visibility during the 12-day series of events via Foo Foo Fest’s regional marketing campaign. To apply as a “Friend of Foo,” interested parties should visit foofoofest.com/event-signup/.
Individual event details and additional partners for the festival will be added and announced on the Foo Foo Festival website in the months leading up to this fall’s kickoff. For a detailed festival FAQ, general information, continuing news, and general updates, visit FooFooFest.com or follow Foo Foo Festival on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
PenAir announces winners of NOW financial fitness competition
PenAir Credit Union recently announced that Team Deale won the 2025 NOW Program, a financial fitness competition designed to help participants strengthen their savings, reduce debt, and build long-term financial wellness habits. Pensacola residents Morgan and Jonathan Deale earned the program’s top prize after increasing their savings by nearly 190 percent and reducing their debt by 35 percent over the course of the competition.
The NOW Program is one of the many ways PenAir brings its purpose of Enhancing Lives to life. By pairing participants with certified financial counselors, the program offers personalized coaching, accountability, and practical tools that help individuals and families take control of their finances and create lasting change.
Throughout the competition, Team Deale worked closely with PenAir Certified Financial Counselor Matthew O’Rear to build sustainable financial habits and make meaningful progress toward their long-term goals, including retirement savings and a stronger financial safety net for their family.
NOW is a six-month financial wellness competition that helps participants better understand their income versus expenses while building healthier spending habits, reducing debt, improving credit, and growing savings. Participants work one-on-one with PenAir’s Certified Financial Counselors and share their journeys publicly to inspire others in the community to take steps toward financial wellness.
The competition also featured other finalist teams who spent months working with their PenAir coaches to transform their financial futures. The second and third-place teams received cash prizes of $5,000 and $2,500, respectively.
Visit penair.org/NOW for details.
Take part: To make a Causes submission, email giving@pnj.com.
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This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: FPL Tools for Teachers donation energizes local teachers and students
Reporting by Chemarryn Thornton, Pensacola News Journal / Pensacola News Journal
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Chemarryn Thornton, Pensacola News Journal | USA TODAY Network
