Locals with Hearts will help the Red Cross on Saturday at the Bay County Fairgrounds at noon, cooking hamburgers, hotdogs and chicken for evacuees. Details: 785-9559.

Free goofy golf and maze: Coconut Creek Family Fun Park, 9807 Front Beach Road in Panama City Beach, will allow unlimited free miniature golf and tours of the Gran Maze to evacuees showing proof of residency. Details: 234-2625.

Free Internet access: CityNet LLC is providing free HotZones for Katrina evacuees to access high-speed wireless Internet connections. The two locations are at the intersection of U.S. 98 (Back Beach Road) and State 79 in Panama City Beach and at the American Red Cross Disaster Services Center at the Bay County Fairgrounds, corner of U.S. 98 and Sherman Avenue in Panama City. Details: www.citynetinfo.com or 785-1969.

Free movie night: Fred’s Outdoor Theater, 8746 Thomas Drive, will offer a free movie night for Katrina evacuees on Saturday at 7:45 p.m. showing Shark Tale. Details: 234-7700.


Hot meals: Chipola College Correctional Officer Training students are preparing meals for some 200 Katrina evacuees housed at the Comfort Inn at the Marianna I-10 interchange today at 11 a.m. Details: Mike Dolan, 718-2212.

Register for school: Students who have temporarily located to Bay County from areas affected by Katrina may attend school here. School officials have waived the requirements for some of the documents usually needed to register. Parents should inform the school of the student’s current grade level and any specialized educational programs.

Students automatically qualify for free meals. Some clothing and school supplies are available. Transportation is provided within the school zones.

To find a school: Kathy Israelson, 873-7078

To get school clothes or school supplies: Kay Daniel, 872-4293 or (cell) 867-0513; or Tripp Jones, 872-4530 or (cell) 867-2844.

Gulf Coast Community College is providing several services to displaced residents from areas affected by Katrina: freshman and sophomore undergraduate classes; access to the GCCC library and its full resources (computers, Internet, etc.); and access to shower facilities.

GCCC is offering open access to freshman- and sophomore-level undergraduate classes for displaced students and will work with those students to provide full tuition relief. Details: Chris Thomes, 747-3250. You will need proof of residence from an affected area.

The GCCC library is providing Internet access for anyone, Katrina evacuees as well as locals without Internet access who wish to use Web resources to find friends and family.

Evacuees also will have access to GCCC’s gym shower facilities. These facilities, located in the Billy Harrison Field House, can accommodate 10 men and 10 women at a time. The school can provide soap; however, towels are not available. Shower facilities are available from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. during the week but are closed on weekends and Labor Day.
Details: Chris Thomes, 747-3250.

Panama City residents Jimmy and Joy Strickland opened their for-sale daycare center, Jump 4 Joy Learning Center, on Beck Avenue to 25 people from hurricane-ravaged Louisiana.

Since the building and property are for sale and unused, the couple has opened it for 30 Hurricane Katrina evacuees.

This was a sentiment found throughout the county, where private residences became boarding houses. In Southport, Robert Broccoli welcomed 22 people. In Springfield, Cynthia Williams has 17.

For Williams, who works at the State Attorney’s Office, the week has brought a sense of community. Her co-workers have flooded the refugees with food and clothes, even buying a teenager a new pair of shoes to find work at McDonald’s.

“The way people have responded, especially everyone at the State Attorney’s Office, has been amazing. Everyone has just opened their hearts. It makes you feel good about this community” says Williams.

For Broccoli, there is a dire need for support. There are young children living in his home, where the retired missile factory worker has struggled to support people he barely knows. He asked for help on Thursday — there was barely enough food left to make ends meet.

Broccoli said he would welcome donations, even if passersby wanted to drop food and supplies on his driveway at 9529 Fundum Lane.