PANAMA CITY BEACH, Fla. (WJHG/WECP) – Now through Sunday, you can dine in, take out or grab a drink at Pineapple Willy’s, and 100% of the proceeds will go to local organizations.
“Pineapple Willy’s is such an icon, we’re a very popular restaurant and we’re doing very well. So when you’re successful, you give back, right?” says Melissa Traxler, CEO of Pineapple Willy’s.
The Pay It Forward campaign, which donates 100 percent of restaurant revenue for a week, was launched two decades ago by the late owner Bill Buskell.
Originally it was called Charity Days.
“Anyone can go through a difficult time at any point in their life,” says Lindsey Pickenpaugh, president of Beach Care Services, one of the agencies receiving assistance this year.
Traxler adds that they’ve been able to improve their offering: “For a long time we were doing five charities or five days, three charities, and last year we moved to seven days, seven charities, and this year it’s seven days, nine charities. So we’re just trying to evolve as we go.”
This happens because the need in the community grows.
The Gulf Coast Children’s Advocacy Center helps young victims of crime receive the care they need and hold those responsible for the crimes accountable.
“When people have financial problems, it causes stress in families. Things happen and that obviously affects the number of cases our agency handles,” explains Brent Patrick, COO of the Gulf Coast Children’s Advocacy Center.
“Rents are skyrocketing, utility bills are exploding, people need more help, more money. Unfortunately, we have to limit the amount we can give so that we have enough to help everyone,” Lindsey added.
While these organizations receive financial support from a variety of sources, the money raised during Pay It Forward week enables them to do even more.
“There are a lot of things that simply cannot be funded with these contracts and grants. Fortunately, we can put the funds we receive from events like this into the work we do with the children and families we help,” Brent said.
“We want people to be able to live and work in Panama City Beach or Bay County and stay here and make a living, raise a family and work here for generations,” Lindsey said.
The nine local Bay County charities that will benefit are Beach Care Services, Gulf Coast Children’s Advocacy Center, The Arc of the Bay, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Northwest Florida, The Lucky Puppy Rescue, Panama City Beach Paws & Claws, LEAD Coalition, Girls Inc. and BASIC of Northwest Florida.
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