Girls Night Out Celebrates & Gives: Food For Thought Outreach

Emerald Coast women gathered for a fabulous event during the holidays at Marlin Grill at The Village of Baytowne Wharf, raising $12,399 for local children.
On Wednesday, December 12, 2012, Proffitt PR held its 5th Girls’ Night Out (GNO) event, a holiday soiree at Marlin Grill in The Village of Baytowne Wharf. Beginning strictly as a holiday party for local women of the area just one year ago, GNO soon cultivated into a larger event held at various venues including Harbor Docks, Tuscany Italian Bistro, and onboard the Solaris yacht. GNO quickly garnered a loyal following of 300+ ladies. With such significant growth, Proffitt PR began to incorporate a beneficiary to raise money for charity.

For GNO at Marlin Grill, Proffitt PR partnered with local charity, Food For Thought Outreach, Inc. whose mission is to support the children in our community. Based in Santa Rosa Beach, Food For Thought provides healthy, easy to prepare food on a weekly basis to elementary aged children who might not otherwise have enough to eat. By providing weekly support to these children from our local school system, Food For Thought helps support their physical, mental and emotional development.

“Everyone at Food For Thought feels so blessed for the opportunity to be a part of such a special event. The money raised at GNO will go directly to feeding the children in our community. We raised enough money to feed 150 children in our program for one year! We are so grateful for this support as our program continues to grow and reach more children in need.” states Food For Thought executive director, Tiffanie Shelton.

Check presentation announcing $12,399 raised for Food For Thought Outreach. From L to R –Tom Rice (Owner of Marlin Grill), Tiffanie Shelton (Food For Thought), Jessica Proffitt (Proffitt PR), Allison Forbes (Proffitt PR)

The evening featured photos with Santa, raffle prizes, a silent auction, vacation giveaways, local vendors, and a sell-out crowd of over 300 leading ladies of the Emerald Coast in attendance.

For a $30 donation to attend, guests enjoyed heavy hors d’oeuvres, wine and spirits including a specialty drink with $1 of each sold going towards the cause, in exchange for a chance to win a vacation stay donated by Blue Marlin Realty Group.

One fundamental aspect of GNO is sponsorship from local businesses through silent auction, raffle, and giveaways. Attendees browsed the array of silent auction items including a ladies’ pink Bote Board, a Justin Gaffrey painting, plastic surgery and more.

Vendors including Destin Jewelers and Rodan & Fields were located on the main floor of Marlin Grill to allow guests to browse their products and to learn more about the local businesses within the area. While vendors including Today's Boutique, Frill Seekers Gifts, Mermaid's Boutique, Regatta Chiropractic, Niki Gaffrey Jewelry, and Private Gallery adorned the second floor.

There were many opportunities for women to win prizes as well as donate to the cause. Destin Jewelers sold a chance to win a Steve Mazza Jewelry Company necklace and earring set valued at $3,000. Guests were asked to make a donation of $20 in exchange for a flute of pink champagne to toast at the end of the night, with one flute containing the winning pink crystal to take home the jewels.

Upon closing the silent auction, all in attendance were invited to the ground floor of Marlin Grill. Proffitt PR founder, Jessica Proffitt thanked the crowd for the wonderful evening and introduced Tiffanie Shelton of Food For Thought to speak on the collaboration of GNO and FFT.

After announcing the winners of the raffle prizes and to close out the night, women who donated $20 to the cause raised their pink champagne flute to find the winner of the Steve Mazza Jewelry Set. A new chiropractor in Destin, Shawna Hogan found the winning pink crystal in her flute to win the $3,000 jewelry set.

Throughout GNO’s efforts, $4,682.38 was raised this September for a restricted breast cancer fund for underserved women at the Oncology unit at Sacred Heart Hospital on the Emerald Coast. $4,483 was raised this April for an international charity, Planting Peace that dewormed and saved 298,866 children around the world. To date, Proffitt PR’s Girls’ Night Out events have raised $21,564.38 for charity in just one year.

Ladies of the Emerald Coast gather at Marlin Grill to raise money and awareness for Food For Thought Outreach Inc. (Photo by Jacqueline Ward Images)

“Being able to gather hundreds of the most incredible women in our area into one place on one night is so amazing. The power and confidence of the women in the room exudes throughout. It has been such a blessing to be able to create an outing for women to enjoy themselves, network and have a good time, all while giving back to a worthy cause.” states Jessica Proffitt.

Given the resounding success of GNO at Marlin Grill, it’s hoped that the upcoming GNO events will provide an even greater chance to raise funds for local charities of the Emerald Coast. The date has not been set yet, but another Girls Night Out will take place during the first part of 2013.

For more information on Girls’ Night Out and/or sponsorship opportunities, contact Proffitt PR at 850-654-4040 or jessica@proffittpr.com. Proffitt PR is located at 1234 Airport Road, Suite 214 Destin, FL 32541.