Visit Pensacola Donates 1,500 Summer Experience Bags to Underserved Youth in Escambia County

Media Contact:

Nicole Stacey
Visit Pensacola
(850) 434-2142
nstacey@visitpensacola.com

Pensacola, Fla. (Thursday, May 30) - Visit Pensacola celebrated National Travel and Tourism Week Thursday, May 9, by assembling and donating 1,500 Pensacola Experience Summer Bags to underserved youth in Escambia County during its annual Tourism Gives Back Day.

“We are grateful to be one part of the many gestures the hospitality industry has contributed to the community and to help those in the most need during the Summer season,” President of Visit Pensacola Steve Hayes said.

Visit Pensacola worked with the guidance programs at each middle school to which chose students that were enrolled in the Manna Packs for Kids program. Items in the bags included hygiene products, attraction tickets, meal vouchers, snacks, reading materials, at home activities and more.

“Summer is a vulnerable time for students. Many of them don’t have the means for basic needs let alone developmental activities or everyday entertainment,” Ernest Ward Middle School Principal Nancy Gindl-Perry said. “These bags not only provided much-needed resources but put the largest smiles on our students faces. They were truly excited.” For a look at Tourism Gives Back, click here for photos.

Tourism Gives Back is a community service program during National Travel and Tourism Week lead by Visit Pensacola dedicated to serving the Pensacola Bay Area. For more information on how Pensacola Tourism Works for you, visit www.visitpensacola.org.

A special thank you to those that donated items for the Pensacola Experience Summer Bags: Bamboo Willies Beachside Bar, Courtyard by Marriott Downtown, Dr. James McCreary, DDS, Dr. Michael Litvak, DDS, Dr. Callahan, DDS, ECUAEscambia County Sheriff’s Office, Fairfield Inn Davis Highway, First Community Mortgage, First Tee of Northwest Florida, Florida Fresh, Florida Heritage, Holiday Inn Express Downtown Pensacola, Holiday Inn Davis Highway, Margaritaville Beach Resort, Navarre Beach Sea Turtle Conservation Center, O’Riley’s Irish Pub, Pensacola Blue Wahoos, Pensacola Mess Hall, Pensacola News Journal, Pensacola Sports, Red Robin, ResortQuest by Wyndham, Sorrento Dental, South Palafox Group, Southern Vacation Rentals, Sun Farm Energy, The Marketing Bar, Tiki Island Culture Bar, West Florida Kids ER, Whitney Hancock Bank, and the UWF Historic Trust

About Visit Pensacola

Visit Pensacola is the destination management organization for Escambia County which includes Pensacola, Pensacola Beach and Perdido Key. With over 450 years of rich history and 18 miles of sugar-white sand beaches bordered by the emerald-green waters of the Gulf of Mexico, visitors from all over the world are lured to our pristine shores every year. Visit Pensacola supports the community vision of tourism by serving as the central body responsible for building tourism as an economic engine for our community through leadership, connection, collaboration and communication.