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As a 501(c)19, Veteran Organization, the Northwest Florida Military Officers Association solely focuses on the needs of those presently serving and those who have served. Our recent Community Outreach initiatives include:  2018:  Veterans Stand Down; 2019:  Purchased kitchen equipment for One Hopeful Place Homeless Shelter; 2020, 2021, & 2022:  Purchased commissary gift cards for distribution to E4 and below enlisted families at Thanksgiving; 2022, we partnered with the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) and purchased and placed wreaths on Veterans’ graves. In 2023, we will again purchase gift cards for junior enlisted families, partner with the DAR, and unveil a new initiative…Valentines for Vets. Please help us to continue our work in the community by clicking the donation form below.


2023

Fort Walton Chamber of Commerce thanks Dave Parisot

Paul Singleton honored by FWB Chamber of Commerce

Chapter member Lt. Col Paul Singleton, USAF, Ret, was honored by the Greater Fort Walton Beach Chamber of Commerce on June 2nd with their ‘Above and Beyond’ award, and made ‘King for the Day’ in front of approximately 300 local business people. Paul has been a part of the Chamber’s Ambassador Committee for 39 years and has personally participated in over 1,700 ribbon cutting ceremonies for new businesses. This is in addition to the thousands of other volunteer hours Paul has given to multiple non-profit organizations in our local area. As a result, the Chamber has added Paul’s name to this award and it is now known as the ‘Paul Singleton Above and Beyond Award’. Congratulations, Paul, and thank you for what you have done and continue to do to support our community. (see photo below).

Fort Walton Beach Memorial Day Service

The morning started early at 7:00AM in the morning when 35 JROTC cadets from Fort Walton Beach High School approached the gravesites of 1,800 military Veterans, hand saluted and placed a United States flag at their headstones. By 9:00AM, over 1,800 graves had been decorated. Per JROTC instructor Mark Batcho, Col., USAF, Ret., this is one of their annual events with the most cadets participating. The JROTC also provided the color Guard for the service to present the Colors.  Several of our members participated in the service. Lt Col Frank Roberts recited the poem “In Flanders Fields” by John McRae after the National Anthem. Chapter members T. Patt Maney, BG, USAR, Ret., and Chuck Merkel, Jr., Major, USA, Ret., helped read the ‘Roll Call of the Deceased’ which included about a dozen of our Chapter members. (see photos below).

NWFMOA Receives MOAA Foundation Grants for 6th Consecutive Year

On May 12th we were notified by the MOAA Foundation that we received two Community Outreach Grants this year, our sixth consecutive year our Chapter has received grants. The first grant of $1,500 is for a continuation of one of our Community Outreach projects from the most previous three years, i.e., to purchase commissary gift cards for young enlisted families (E-4 and below) at our local bases. The second grant, for $2,800, is to participate in the 2023 Veterans Stand Down this fall by purchasing cold weather clothing and toiletry items for needy Veterans in our area.

This will be our fourth consecutive year of purchasing Commissary gift cards in $25 denominations to distribute to local junior enlisted families. We plan to again partner with the First Sergeants Associations at Eglin, Hurlburt, and the 7th Special forces Group(A) and the Hurlburt Military Family Assistance Center to get the gift cards to those in greatest need. In our Community Outreach projects for 2020, 2021, and 2022, we distributed a total of 610 gift cards at a combined value of $15,250. Of this total, the MOAA Foundation provided $11,325 and $3,925 was from local donations.

Military Family Appreciation Day

The Greater Fort Walton Beach Chamber of Commerce hosted the Military Family Appreciation Day at the Fort Walton Beach Landing Park on Saturday, April 15th from 11:00AM to 5:00PM. Chapter members who staffed our NWFMOA booth on the first shift were (from left) Bob Gramm, Dave Parisot, Fred Westfall.

Below are those at our booth for the second shift. From left are Jim Shoff, George Hanks, Fran Hendricks, Dick Solt. The third shift was rained out. We thank you for sharing your weekend time for the benefit of our Chapter and local community.

Valentines for Vets

A new community event for 2023 was “Valentines for Vets”. For nearly 65 years, the Northwest Florida Military Officers Association (NWFMOA), an affiliate of the Military Officer Association of America, has been making a difference in the lives of Veterans in the Okaloosa and Walton Counties. One of its community outreach initiatives this year was to partner Bob Hope Village with Longwood Elementary School, whereby second grade students made Valentines and delivered them to the residents on Valentine’s Day. This endeavor allowed the students to express their appreciation for the service and sacrifices made by this Veteran community and their families through the gift of a handmade Valentine. The students presented their Valentines to the residents during the annual Valentine Day Brunch at Bob Hope Village.

Valentines for Vets was first enacted in 1996 by General Ron Fogleman, Air Force Chief of Staff, and was intended to support the Department of Veteran Affairs weeklong National Salute to Hospitalized Veterans. Today, the VA has expanded the salute to the entire month of February and has renamed it, National Salute to Veteran Patients Month.

The NWFMOA invites everyone to recognize a Veteran’s service and sacrifice especially on Valentine’s Day. To view additional pictures, click
HERE. This program was coordinated by our Chapter President, Fran Hendricks.

 

Chamber of Commerce "Business After Hours"

On January 19th our Chapter had an information booth at the “Business After Hours” event of the Greater Fort Walton Beach Chamber of Commerce, held at the Emerald Coast Science Center. At the booth, our displays highlighted Chapter membership, our Community Outreach programs, and our Scholarship programs. (See photo)





2022

Our Outreach Efforts Are Noticed and Appreciated by MOAA
The email below was received from MOAA National


Major Parisot,

Thank you very much for providing this final report for the Northwest Florida Chapter’s 2022 Community Outreach Grant.

We appreciate your detailed information regarding the grant fund use in your report. It was also great to see the photo/summaries of the presentation of grant funds to the representatives of Eglin AFB, Hurlburt Field, and the Hurlburt Military & Family Readiness Center – subsequently then providing the commissary gift cards to those who needed them most.

This information has been added to our records, and we appreciate the continued efforts and support that you and your chapter members provide to those in the military community each and every day.

We also passed along your kind message to Amanda Centers, and know that she is looking forward to the upcoming January 6th presentation in Florida as well!

As a reminder, our 2023 Community Outreach Grant application is currently open, and we hope you will consider applying for a grant before the application window closes on February 28, 2023.

Please let us know if you have any questions, and thank you again.

With thanks,

The MOAA Development Team


December 17:  Participated Participated in “Wreaths Across America” at Beal Cemetery in Fort Walton Beach by helping place holiday wreaths on Veterans’ gravesites; chapter members contributed $300 to the Choctawhatchee Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution to purchase 20 wreaths “In Memory of Deceased Members and Spouses of the NWFMOA”. (See Defender articles for December 2022 and January 2023)

November 11:  Chapter members & spouses participated in Veterans Day services at local cemeteries; Lt Col Frank Roberts gave the history of and recited “On Flanders Field” at the Beal Cemetery service (See Defender article for December 2022

 November 8 and 10: Distributed 255 commissary gift cards valued at $6,375 to the First Sergeants Associations at Hurlburt Field, Eglin AFB, and the 7th Special Forces Group (A), and to the Military Family Readiness Centers at Hurlburt Field and Duke Field. (See Defender articles for December 2022)

September 1:  NWFMOA assisted the Greater Fort Walton Beach with publicizing the 75th Anniversary of the United States Air Force on September 13th at Northwest Florida State College.  NWFMOA used its Defender newsletter and ‘e-mail blasts’ to members plus announcement of the event at the Chapter luncheon on September 1st. (See Defender for September 2022)

August 5:  Led by Chapter First Vice President Fran Hendricks, NWFMOA had a “Spotlight Table” display and made a stage presentation at the monthly First Friday Breakfast of the Greater Fort Walton Beach Chamber of Commerce, attended by over 250 local business members. (See Defender article for September 2022)

 July 7:  NWFMOA Scholarship Fund presented a $4,000 scholarship to University of West Florida AFROTC Cadet Colonel Blayne Johnson. This scholarship was in memory of Deceased Chapter member Lt. Gen. Leroy Manor, USAF, Ret. (See Defender article for August 2022)

May 30:  Chapter members & spouses participated in Memorial Day services at local cemeteries.  Fourteen Chapter members and spouses had passed away during the previous 12 months. (See Defender for May 2022)

May 5:  Held the annual Scholarship Luncheon at the Fort Walton Yacht Club, attended by 85 Chapter members, JROTC scholarship awardees, JROTC instructors, 2022 MOAA Medal awardees, 11 local high school appointees to military academies, and Business Gold scholarship donors. (See Defender article for June 2022)

April 19: Received notification that MOAA Foundation has awarded a community Outreach Grant of $4,000 to purchase commissary gift cards to be distributed to local airman and soldier families in ranks of E-4 and below. This is the 5th consecutive year our chapter has received a grant from the MOAA Foundation. (See Defender article for May 2022)

April 18: Several Chapter members attended the “Final Goblet Ceremony” of the Doolittle Raiders at Northwest Florida State College, when the goblet of the last survivor of the Doolittle Raiders, Col. Richard Cole, was inverted in the display case by his son and daughter.

April 2: Six Chapter members staffed our NWFMOA information booth at the 50th anniversary celebration of the 919th Special Operations Group at Duke Field. (See Defender for May 2022)

March: NWFMOA assisted the Greater Fort Walton Beach Chamber in publicizing the “Final Goblet Ceremony” of the Doolittle Raiders via ‘email blasts’ to Chapter members.

2021:

November 11:  Several chapter members and spouses attended Veterans Day services at local cemeteries.  Chapter member Lt Col Frank Rogers recited the poem “On Flanders Field” at the Beal Cemetery service in Fort Walton Beach. (See Defender for December 2021)

October 11: NWFMOA Scholarship Fund Board of Directors established the Educational Support Grant (ESG) Program to provide grants of up to $500 per year to local JROTC units who request financial aid for otherwise unfunded needs. (See Defender for November 2021)

August 23:  Charlotte Eschmann, wife of chapter member Col. Karl Eschmann, was inducted into the Hall of Fame by the Okaloosa County commission on the Status of Women in the Military category. (See Defender for October 2021)

May 31: Several Chapter members and spouses participated in Memorial Day services at local cemeteries.

May 6:  The NWFMOA Scholarship Fund held its annual Scholarship Awards luncheon at the American Legion hall in Fort Walton Beach.  Eight scholarships totaling $21,500 were awarded to local JROTC cadets.  In addition, the 2021 MOAA Medals were presented to seven junior-year JROTC cadets, and a senior at Choctawhatchee High School was recognized for her appointment to the USAF academy. (See Defenders for May 2022 and June 2022)

April 15:  NWFMOA was awarded two MOAA Foundation Community Outreach Grants totaling $3,750.  A grant for Community Outreach was for $2,500 and a MOAA COVID Relief Grant was for $1,250.  The two grants will be combined to purchase commissary gift card for local active duty junior enlisted families in ranks E-4 and below.  This is the 4th consecutive year our Chapter has received grants from the MOAA Foundation. (See Defender for May 2021 and October 2021)




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