Capt. Scott Ervin with the Panama City Police Department is now the recipient of two roundtrip Southwest Airlines tickets. Capt. Ervin was the lucky winner of Anchorage's raffle drawing last week. Raffle tickets were sold for $20 each for a chance to win two roundtrip tickets anywhere Southwest flies in the continental U.S. Through National Safe Place, Anchorage was awarded the tickets for being a Safe Place for youth in crisis. The raffle raised $3500 supporting Anchorage programs.

Capt. Ervin will attend a conference in Chicago next month and winning these tickets will allow his wife and 13 year old to attend with him and have some family vacation time. Thanks National Safe Place and Southwest Airlines for your generosity and supporting youth and families of our community.

Karen Sandel and The Lost Coconut Ministries blessed Anchorage this holiday season with a donation of brand new clothing for the young ladies we serve in The Bridge Transitional Living program and also Hannah's House maternity group home. Many of these girls are searching for jobs and the dresses and business wear will allow them to be dressed for success during their interviews and job search. We appreciate the Lost Coconut and supporting our young ladies.

Sam's Club hosted an outreach event and cookout for our youth and staff on November 14th. It was a great time of flag football, ladderball, burgers, hotdogs and cake. Because of the efforts of Jason and Roger at the 23rd Street Club, Anchorage recently received a $500 grant from Sam's. Anchorage and Sam's are working together in conjunction with Sam's Volunteer Program to provide mentoring, volunteer needs and future grants for our agency. We appreciate the hard work and dedication from our local Sam's Club and their employees!

The Bay Town Trolley will be a mobile Safe Place location to help youth in crisis situations. The Transportation Planning Organization of Bay County voted "yes" to allow trolleys to display the bright yellow and black Safe Place signs in all their vehicles allowing any youth in distress access to help. Once a youth enters the trolley and asks the driver for help, Anchorage's Street Outreach team will be contacted and dispatched to meet the youth and take the next step. Regina Alderman and the Street Outreach Team will be training all trolley staff members within the next couple of weeks to get them geared up and ready to display the signs. Anchorage's Street Outreach program or S.O.A.R. presents Safe Place material to all our local public school students so youth are familiar with what it means, where to go and how to get help.

The Bay Point Women's Club raise funds annually during their "Make it, Bake it, Sew it, Grow it" Auction held in November of each year. The members then vote for the charities of their choice to donate the proceeds to. For 2010, the Bay Point Women donated $2500 to Anchorage Children's Home. The check was presented at their annual luncheon on May 11, 2010 at the Bay Point Marriott. We appreciate the continued support of these amazing women.

Anchorage Children's Home received a $9,000 grant from the Newman's Own Foundation on March 29, 2010 to be used for residential programs. Newman's Own has a Community Partner Program and Publix Supermarket participates in the pilot program helping identify worthy and eligible charities that align with the Newman's Own Foundation grant making priorities. Publix recommended Anchorage as a grant recipient. Anchorage met the Foundation's requirements and was awarded the $9,000 check! Newman's Own Foundation donates all net royalties and profits after taxes it receives from the sale of Newman's Own products to charity. Paul Newman and Newman's Own Foundation has given over $290 million dollars to thousands of charities around the world. We are so grateful to Publix Supermarket and Newman's Own for their support of our agency.

In honor of Child Abuse Prevention Month, employees of Royal American adopted Anchorage Children's Home as their community service project for the month of April. Employees and management staff contributed and collected money, organized agency fundraisers and donated $727 in cash and gift cards to Anchorage. Royal American ownership has also agreed to match any funds raised during Anchorage's Poker Run ride held during the Panama City Beach Motorcycle Rally April 29 thru May 2. We are very grateful to the hard work of Amy Harris, Marketing Director for Royal American, and all the wonderful employees who support our agency.

Matt Worthen, Store Manager of the Blountstown Duckwall-Alco Store donated a check to Anchorage totaling $324.08. This money was the proceeds of a Cutest Baby Contest the store sponsored and will be used for families served by the Calhoun county office. We are so grateful to Matt, the employees and all who participated in the contest to benefit the families and children we serve.

A group of Rutherford High School Students took the initiative to collect monetary donations for our maternity group home, Hannah's House. Kastle Jones, Kory Johnson and Lauren Johnson led by teacher Dawnie Clark, presented the $300 check to Brooke Bullard and Johanna Calloway at Anchorage Children's Home. We appreciate their hardwork and dedication to our agency.

November 2, 2009 was the 8th annual Champions for Children Golf Tournament at Camp Creek. The tournament is one of Anchorage's major fundraisers which supports our residential programs. Tyndall Federal Credit Union is the major sponsor of the event with their $10,000 donation. Other sponsors included Waterstone Apartments, Knology, Panhandle Embroidery, Sonny's BBQ, GAC Contractors, Chic-fil-A, Buffalo Rock and Broward Hall Insurance. 21 Teams participated and over $15,000 was raised to benefit Anchorage. We'd like to thank all our returning teams for their continued support. This year's event is scheduled for November 1, 2010.

Anchorage Children's Home was one of the beneficiaries of the 2009 Billfish Invitational Tournament at Bay Point Marina. The St. Joe Community Foundation donated $11,962.00 to Anchorage from proceeds from the world class event. Along with the donation, some of Anchorage's youth were able to fish in the Al Hubbard's Kid's Fishing Experience where local fishing boat captains donate their time, fuel, tackle, bait and expertise to give our kids the opportunity of a lifetime. The experience, named after local outdoor enthusiast Al Hubbard, provides a day of fishing, boating, lunch, friendship and numerous gifts for the youth who participate from local organizations serving at risk youth. We'd like to thank The St. Joe Community Foundation, Scott Burt, Steve Ardnt, Chris Miller & Chrystal Hubbard for making our kids feel extra special and supporting our agency.

The Life Servers of Woodlawn United Methodist Church blessed Anchorage youth with a chartered fishing trip onboard the "Jubilee" on February 20, 2010. Residents from Hidle House and The Bridge Transitional Living took part in an experience of a lifetime with fishing, boating, lunch and friendships! Over 100 fish were caught and Capt. Charlie not only donated the fishing trip, but cleaned the fish himself for our kids! Ann Gardner, headed another Life Servers group and they came to Anchorage and sacrificed their time to plant flowers, bushes and help beautify our agency grounds! We are so grateful for these men and women who are truly making a difference!

In May 2009, Anchorage was blessed by a special guest...Amy Roloff from the hit TLC documentary show, "Little People Big World" came to our agency and filmed her show at our various programs. Amy is a "little person" or dwarf and is a wife and mother of 3 children. Her husband and one of their children are "little people" and the other two are average height. Amy arrived at Hidle House and spent a significant amount of time touring the facility and learning about the youth involved and the services offered. She ended her visit at Hidle by speaking to the youth and staff about overcoming life's challenges and obstacles. Amy traveled to Panama City Beach and visited our transitional living program, The Bridge and also our maternity group home, Hannah's House. The young mothers of Hannah's prepared dinner for Amy and they dined together and spent time sharing stories. We are so grateful to Amy and the crew of Little People Big World and the lives they touched while visiting Anchorage. The show is scheduled to air November 2, 2009 at 7 p.m. central time on TLC.

In September 2008, the Gulf Coast Charity Horse Show & Music Festival donated a check for $25,000 to Anchorage from the Tennessee Walking event held at Frank Brown Park in April 2008. The proceeds from this year's event totaled $7500 and Todd Fisher from the Gulf Coast Charity Horse Show presented a check to Anchorage at the September 2009 meeting.

In November 2008, The Home Depot Foundation along with staff from the Panama City Beach Home Depot store donated a $5,000 gift card to Anchorage to repair our perimeter fence at our Lisenby campus. All labor was provided by Panama City Beach Home Depot store employees, Naval Diving Salvage & Training Center volunteers, and Life Servers Mission group from Woodlawn United Methodist Church.

In November 2008, the Community Service Foundation donated $4600 to Hidle House to renovate the walls in the resident's bedrooms.

In December 2008, local citizens held their annual private Christmas Party at Spinnaker's to benefit Anchorage Children's Home. All guests invited brought a toy or baby item to benefit children in our shelter. Special thanks to Cornel & Brenda Brock, Greg & Lynn Brudnicki, George and Jan Gainer, Joey & Michelle Ginn, Rick & Neda Koehnemann, Jimmy & Patria Maulden, Jimmy & Katie Patronis, Bob & Vicki Swenk, Clayton & Kim Syfrett, Gary Wakstein, Mary Glenn Kelley and Spinnaker.

In December 2008, Lynn Haven United Methodist Church held a gift card drive to benefit Anchorage Children's Home. Over $2600 in gift cards were donated to the agency by members of the church. We are so grateful to the church and their members for supporting our agency!

Anchorage celebrated 25 years in the community with an anniversary celebration "Diamonds In the Rough" at Bay Point's Marriott. Creative Gems and Panama City Living Magazine were the presenting sponsors. A special thanks to Board Members Rhonda Mayo and Monica Banton for all their help in coordinating the evening.

Bootleg BBQ held a Mardi Gras Party and Shrimp Boil to benefit Anchorage Children's Home at Pier Park on February 14, 2009. Josh Daugherty, owner of Bootleg BBQ, presented a check to Anchorage for $1001.

In April 2009, the Bay County Dental Society along with Dr. Daniel Melzer and Dr. Clay Gangwisch raised money from local dentists to help construct a new Olympic style beach volleyball court and repair the gazebo in Hidle House's recreational area. Over $4800 was donated by the Bay County Dental Society and the dentists came out and provided the labor in constructing the court. They also participated in volleyball games and catered a BBQ lunch for the youth and staff of Hidle House.

In November 2008, the "Champions for Children" Golf Tournament was held at Camp Creek Golf Course. Tyndall Federal Credit Union continues to be the major sponsor of the event. $15,000 was raised to benefit the residential programs of Anchorage Children's Home. Tyndall Federal Credit Union has also committed to being the tournament's major sponsor again for 2009 with a $10,000 donation.

Hannah's House received a much needed storage shed renovation from Tyler Rits for his Eagle Scout community outreach project. Tyler came to Hannah's and provided the labor and materials to renovate the shed. It is now climate controlled and is used for storing donations and other items for the mothers and their babies.

Nike Factory Outlet at Pier Park donated $1250 to Anchorage through a Community Partnership. The employees of Nike also volunteered for Anchorage during the Gulf Coast Charity Horse Show event and continue to support our agency through various donations and volunteerism. Nike is currently running a "Back Your Block" campaign to support local non-profit agencies, like Anchorage, who encourage recreational activities for youth.

The FSU-PC Garnet Key Honor Society along with the Social Work Department has been very supportive of Hannah's House. They presented a donation of baby clothes and baby items in February 2009 worth over $500.00 in value. The group continues to be active in collecting donations and hosting events for our youth at Hannah's and Hidle House. With the leadership of Laura Allen, President of the Garnet Key, the group held it's 1st annual Field Day at Hidle House in July 2009.

The servicemen and women of Tyndall Air Force Base continue to provide support to Anchorage with manual labor, cookouts and recreational outings for our youth in Hidle.

The men and women of the U.S. Navy continue to support Anchorage in many ways. Chief Petty Officer Tyson Hoover and Dive Center Commander Timothy Richardt have been instrumental in recruiting voluteers for various maintenance projects and manpower for special events and fundraisers.

The Junior Service League awarded Anchorage a $3000 grant to screen in the porch area of Hannah's House. This porch will be utilized as an alternate play area and visiting area for the young mothers and their babies.