For a list of upcoming facility tours, banquets and other fundraising events

click here


For a list of all Annual Ministry Events, see below and click on an event for more information

Operation Warm Heart

Easter Egg Hunt

Easter Dinner

Street Revivals

Family Food Festival

Klothes for Kids

Homeless Veterans Outreach

Thanksgiving Dinner

Breakfast with Santa


Become a monthly financial partner:

 

$30 a month

$50 a month

$100 a month

 

Call 769-0783 for other amounts.


 

 

 

Outreach and ministry events include programs are aimed at "short-term" and/or "non-residential" solutions to many of our clients needs.  It includes special events aimed at reaching new homeless and needy populations and outreaches to homeless families and children in the community.


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Operation Warm Heart

Operation Warm Heart is an effort we take on each year as an effort to help those on the streets during cold nights...We have some homeless people in our area that for one reason or another refuse to utilize our services and spend their nights on the streets...During the winter...when the temperature drops in the 30's we take our truck around town to some of the areas in which we
know these people stay...we usually have pastries, coffee, blankets and jackets to hand out in an effort to keep them from having difficulty with the weather. 

To volunteer, click here.

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Easter Egg Hunt

More than 160 needy children participated in our free Easter picnic and egg hunt held at the Mission's campus for women and families, Bethel Village on April 3, 2010.  Volunteers helped hide more than 8,600 eggs and organize a hunt and festivities.  Kids collecting the most eggs and special colored eggs received prizes. 

Volunteer for this event

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Annual Easter Banquet

Each year volunteers help make Easter extra special for the homeless of Bay County.  Rather than providing meals cafeteria-style, Mission officials prefer to make Christian holidays more exciting for clients and volunteers.  The Mission's volunteers decorate the Mission, and serve plates one-on-one to the many needy people that join the Mission for these special events.

More importantly, each year dozens of people make professions of faith in Jesus Christ during the chapel service before the meal!

Volunteer for this event

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Family Food Festival

Family Food Festival serves over 130 families again in 2010!!

Many needy children depend on free and reduced breakfast and lunches at Bay District schools, however when school's out, families often do without or struggle to provide these meals during summer.

The Mission, along with area partner agencies teamed up June 10 from 9 am to Noon to provide an information fair and food giveaway at the Mission's campus.  Families were able to browse services available to them at agency booths.  The Mission allowed them to shop for their food themselves assisted by a personal shopper.  The food was mainly provided by the US Postal Food Drive.

This year 130 families received free food boxes to help them get through the summer.  45 volunteers came out to lend their hands.  31 agencies participated to provide their valuable information.  We gave out over 3,670 canned foods and non-perishables. 

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Mission Clothes Needy Children for School Through Klothes for Kids Program

Getting ready for school school should be exciting, but for some kids, fancy jeans and expensive binders are just out of reach due to family financial problems.   Ordinarily, they don't have a chance to shop at the mall as other kids do.   Thanks to the support of dedicated volunteers and favorable response to the annual clothing drive, we are able to clothe hundreds each year.  

More information, here

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Mission Hosts Interdenominational Revival Aimed at Needy and Homeless   

Join us this Spring in the courtyard for a time of worship and fellowship at our Fall Revival.

Above: Chris Godber shared his musical talent with our guests at the last Revival.

 

"Old Rescue Missions have a heritage of outreach to their community thorough street revivals. It’s a practice we do not want to let die here in Panama City.  It’s a wonderful opportunity for outreach to the homeless and to our community.  It’s also a great way for Christians to exercise their faith through joining the Mission in their quest to seek the least, the last and the lost,” Executive Director Rev. Billy E Fox said.                        

Praise God, He is breaking the bondage of sin and setting captives free!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Photos by Carol Fox, who added:

"You can't judge a person by what he 

looks like.  Our clients can bless us if 

we slow down and just bring respect 

between us.  I believe his well worn 

Bible in his hands is comforting to me. 

I look at him differently. He has a 

mental ill label but how does God 

label him?....I want to see our 

clients through His eyes...."

 

One out of Every Three Homeless Men We Serve Are US Veterans, According to Recent Survey

High Prices and job losses are leading some Panama City residents into homelessness, according to a survey conducted in October 2008 by the Association of Gospel Rescue Missions (AGRM). Hardest hit are single women with children, who made up 66 percent of the homeless counted in the survey, a jump from 55 percent in 2007. Locally, women with children accounted for 67 percent of the families served at Panama City Rescue Mission (up from 33 percent in 2007). Panama City Rescue Mission is a participant in the survey as a member of the AGRM.

"These are tough times, and people who often feel the pinch of the economy first are those in single parent homes," said Rev. Billy Fox, mission executive director. "Panama City Rescue Mission is here to catch people when they fall. We're thankful for the faithful donors in Bay County who make it possible for us to care for our neighbors in need."

The 20th annual snapshot survey of the Homeless, completed at 137 rescue mission across North America, recorded more women than ever before, 26 percent of those responding, as compared to 24 percent in 2007. In Panama City, that number actually fell from 31 percent in 2007 to 28 percent in 2008, still higher than the national average.

"What I find the most disturbing is the number of homeless veterans we counted this year compared to the national average. The national average showed 18 percent of the male homeless population as being veterans, while locally that number is 34 percent (up from 23 percent in 2007)." Rev. Fox continued, "Our community needs and we are considering more services for these men who gave so much to our country and our freedoms."

Overall, the mission has seen a dramatic increase I need in the community. Oftentimes, requests come from people who are on the verge of being homeless. Many come to the mission for meals or assistance with monthly bills. 

"Fuel prices, food costs, increases in utilities and monthly rent, they can just add up," said Fox. "The Mission is serving more than 550 meals a day, when last year that number was just 350. We're finding clients who have been laid off from jobs and even day labor jobs are harder to find than a year ago. If the Mission can step in and help folks get through the month, we've just prevented them from becoming homeless."

The annual survey provides basic demographic data. This year, the largest increase has been in Native Americans at 4 percent (up from 0 percent in 2007), and Hispanics at 3 percent of the population (up from 1 percent in 2007).

Those 46 to 65 years of age made up the largest segment of the sample (40 percent), followed by people age 36 to 45 years (35 percent), 26 to 35 years (23 percent), and 18 to 25 years (2 percent).

Panama City Rescue Mission provides short-term emergency shelter, hot meals, food boxes, clothing and household items to those in financial need. It also houses men and women in a transitional housing program for working homeless and enrolls those suffering from addictions in a long-term recovery program, providing spiritual guidance and job training.

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