The Optimist Club of the Beaches has provided scholarships for the youth of Panama City Beach and Bay County for almost 60 years. During the earliest days of the club, the founding members raised funds for the first scholarships through a variety of ways to include selling beverages at Beach Seafood Festivals and weekly Bingo games and were able to fund some of the first local scholarships for Panama City Beach residents to attend the then Gulf Coast Community College (GCCC). That legacy lives on and today the Optimist Club of the Beaches has 20 scholarships in place through Gulf Coast State College (GCSC), Florida State University – Panama City (FSU-PC), Troy State University and Haney Technical College.
