Dinner on the Bay
A wonderful dining experience with live music, raffles, auctions, and a block party.
Testimonies
Beach Care Services serves the residents of Panama City Beach. Our mission is to provide short-term emergency assistance to needy people who live in Panama City Beach, and to refer clients to other social service agencies in Bay County. ”Providing Hope by Building Foundations for a More Complete Beach Family.” It's all about "Locals Helping Locals."
For each person involved with the operation of Beach Care Services, there are many words they could use to describe what we do. But as strong as those testimonies would be we believe there is nothing more powerful, or as important, as the testimonies from some of the actual recipients of our care.
Please scroll down the page and take the time to hear more about a few of thousands of deserving people that have been assisted through Beach Care Services over the years. If you are in need of help, and you live & work in Panama City Beach, please get in touch with us.
Please Donate!
Your tax deductible donation will help locals in need.
- Words From Those We Have Helped
- Robert, a middle ages military veteran who had worked for a local beach business for many years, came to Beach Care Services for help. Having recently been diagnosed with cancer, he was extremely depressed and downtrodden. His wife had been totally disabled for some time and since he hadn’t been able to work either, they were months behind in bills and living in fear. VA doctors believed that removal of one liver lobe might be curative for Robert, but the surgery would have to be performed in a VA Hospital located in a city of hundreds of miles from our Beach. He and his wife had no money to travel so far away, but he desperately needed that life-saving surgery. Our staff got busy on the phones and was ultimately able to get funding for travel and a place for his wife to stay while he was hospitalized. Referrals were provided to several other social service agencies for help with utility bills and prescriptions. Robert and his wife left our office with hope for their future together.
- Anna, a teacher… had recently had surgery for a life threatening condition, was temporarily disabled, and slowly recovering from surgery. Devastated to learn of her illness, and the fact that she would be have to be off from work for several months, she took some measure of comfort in the fact that she had set aside a few thousand dollars for future emergencies. Unfortunately for Anna, while she was gravely ill, someone stole her identity, and the savings account money vanished overnight. When she came to BCS, months behind in all of her bills and still sick, we were pleased to pay her rent and utility bills, and make referrals to other agencies for additional assistance. She was able to stay safe in her home, and happily, was able to return to work in a few weeks.
- Joseph, a member of the United States Navy… walked into our office early one morning, and said he needed to make a donation. He wondered if he could please get a receipt that very day. He had just signed up for his second tour of duty and had received a sign-up bonus. Having been a lifelong Christian, he wanted to give some of his money to a good cause, and had heard about BCS’ work in the Beach community. He left us with a check for $2,000 in our hands, and we were happy to give him a receipt, along with our appreciation for his service to our country.
- Johathan, a Veteran of the Iraq war… Developed diabetes while in Iraq, and was sent home to have a portion of his foot amputated due to his disease. He had been working 2 jobs to pay his rent, utilities, food and doctor bills, but after the surgery he had to be off work 10 weeks. His family helped tremendously, but they were tapped out. BCS paid part of his rent and medications, and referred him to other agencies for continuing care until he could go back to work.
- Emily who is fifty-something years old, came to BCS because her mentally ill daughter was no longer able to care for her 8 year old child, Emily’s grandson. The daughter was in and out of mental care facilities and was simply unable to hold down a job for very long at a time. The child’s father does not pay child support. Emily was eventually awarded full custody of the grandson, and is now struggling to make enough money to buy food, school uniforms, and pay the rent. She came to BCS because she one her tires blew out, and she was in fear that without transportation to work, everything would come crashing down. BCS was able to help get a tire, pay one month’s insurance, and send her to another local agency for school uniforms for her grandson.
- Cathy, 45 years old, is disabled with a degenerative muscle/nerve disease for which there is no cure. She lives alone, and her income is $545 monthly from Social Security. She came to Beach Care Services because she was unable to buy her medicine or pay for electricity, which she is dependent upon for oxygen. BCS paid the power bill, and sent her to another local agency for free long term prescription refills. There are many, many people in our community in circumstances much like Cathy’s.
- Patricia came to our office for help because she doesn't have enough money to pay both the rent and utility bills, and is afraid she and her 2 young children will become homeless. She is seasonally unemployed, her regular job won't start up for several more weeks, and she's been barely hanging on by taking whatever part time work she can find. BCS paid a portion of the rent, and referred her to other local agencies for assistance with utility bills. We also provided information about local food pantries, and an inexpensive prescription plan for her whole family.
- Joann who is age 58, has lived and worked in Panama City Beach for years. Now disabled, she will soon undergo heart surgery. She and her husband, who also is disabled, have been existing on $1,400 monthly Social Security. She came to Beach Care Services because the rent and electric bill are due, and she can't pay them because she has to use that money for doctor bills. Beach Care Services made a partial rent payment and arranged an appointment with another local agency to pay the electric bill.
- James, a PCB resident who is a partially paralyzed and a nice young man. He has just learned that one of his legs must be amputated. He only has $200 in savings which won't be enough to cover both his past due power bill and travel expenses to the out of state hospital. BCS paid the electric bill, giving James much relief that he will at least be able to have lights and heat after his surgery.
- Elizabeth is 66 years old, and has $1264 monthly Social Security income. When she came to Beach Care Services, she was just recovering from a 3-day hospital stay for breathing treatments. Normally, rent and utilities run about $900 monthly, leaving little for prescriptions, groceries, or gas money, but she was doing okay until the hospital bills started arriving. Now, those expenses have put her so far behind that she can't pay the electric bill. BCS gave her information about free prescription programs, information on how to sign up for Meals-on Wheels, and paid her electric bill. She has been afraid of becoming homeless, but with our help and that of other local agencies, Elizabeth is hopeful that she can stay in her home.
- Answered Prayers...
- Randall, 60 years old, had been disabled several years because of having had one leg amputated. He recently became ill again, the other leg was amputated, and he was in the hospital for several months. He was just too sick to think about paying rent or any other bills, and consequently on release from the hospital came back to his small apartment owing three months rent, electricity and water bills. BCS was able to help with part of the utility bills, and sent him home with a promise that we would call other agencies to try to get the rest of the money. He asked us to say a prayer for him. The very next morning, a man walked into our office with a sack of money that he wanted to donate… he didn’t want to give us his name, just felt the need to donate the money to BCS. Wondrously, the total came within a few dollars of the amount needed to pay the rest of Randall’s bills.
- Mary, an elderly woman came to our office shortly after being released from the hospital, where she had been for open heart surgery. While she was sick, someone broke into her home and took everything. She wondered if BCS could help with her heart medicines and also get a mattress and box springs so that she didn’t have to continue sleeping on the floor. After calling several sources, we were unable to come up with the bedding, and buying the bedding was beyond BCS’ budget limits. BCS paid for the prescriptions, and sent her home with a promise that we would keep trying to find bedding. She asked us to pray for her and we did. Before she could leave the parking lot, the telephone rang…it was a local businesswoman who was just wondering if we had any use for a mattress and box springs that had been on her showroom floor for awhile. Both the client and office volunteer left in tears to pick up the mattress set.
Our Fundraiser Events
Golf Tournament
A competitive but fun golfing challenge with special gifts and prizes galore.
Duck Races
A wet and entertaining duck race with auctions, tasty treats and endless laughter.
Please Donate!
Your tax deductible donation will help locals in need.