News - GFWC Lutz-Land O'Lakes Woman's Club

LUTZ-LAND O’LAKES WOMAN’S CLUB PARTNERS WITH LAND O’LAKES LIBRARY ON A NEW LITTLE FREE LIBRARY INSTALLATION

March 22, 2021

GFWC LUTZ-LAND O’LAKES WOMAN’S CLUB in collaboration with the Land O’Lakes Library & its Foundry donated and fabricated a Little Free Library (LFL) and installed it on the campus of Shady Hills Elementary School in Land O’Lakes. Member Faith Sincich proposed the idea and Lucy Albury approached Victoria Hanley, Librarian at Land O’Lakes Library about its Foundry helping with the construction and together they formulated a plan. Bill Nelson, a library staffer, designed, built and painted the box. School Principal Tom Barker graciously chose an accessible space for the box near the campus entrance and Ms. Hanley and her husband, Jim Hanley, generously volunteered to install it. The Woman’s Club donated books and stocked the shelves. Lucy Albury arranged a dedication ceremony to commemorate the installation of this LFL and invited students to initiate the program by choosing a book for themselves. The kids were very enthusiastic and lost no time in queueing up for their own ‘free take-home to keep’ book. The LFL inventory will be replenished by the Woman’s Club.

Special recognition and thanks to: Land O’Lakes Library, Bill Nelson, Victoria & Jim Hanley, Lowe’s, Woman’s Club members Faith Sincich, Lucy Albury & Pat Wagner, Principal Tom Barker, Vice Principal Christine Ropollo, School Guidance Secretary Christine Holton for all their time, effort and donations in completing this wonderful project to benefit of Shady Hills Elementary School and the surrounding community.

Club Members with Land O Lakes Librarian in Front of Little Library — President Annette Bellingar, Land O’Lakes Librarian Victoria Hanley, Club Chair Faith Sincich, & LFL Chair Lucy Albury

Little Library Stocked with Books — LITTLE FREE LIBRARY (LFL)

Presentation of Little Library to Shady Hills Admins — President Annette Bellingar, Victoria Hanley, Shady Hills Principal Tom Barker & Vice Principal Christine Ropollo

Students Checking Out Books in the Little Free Library — Students in queue for their first books

LUTZ-LAND O’LAKES WOMAN’S CLUB SERVES LOPEZ VETS’ NURSING HOME

March 22, 2021

GFWC LUTZ-LAND O’LAKES WOMAN’S CLUB Team of 3 members (Dolores Tarafa, Debbie Cardona & Dee Knerr) have designed and fabricated “fidget” lap blankets for patients in the B. Lopez Veterans’ Nursing Home Memory Unit. This project has been well-researched and the team has learned that these blankets are a very helpful tool in calming the anxiety of dementia patients. Many hours of sewing and handcrafting go into each of these pieces and 10 have been delivered to Johanna Snee, the facility’s Activities Director, to be distributed to appropriate residents, with more to follow after carefully observing what may need to be “tweaked”.

Club Delivers Fidget Mats to Lopez Vets Nursing Home — Members Dolores Tarafa, Debbie Cardona & Dee Knerr & (front) Johanna Snee, Lopez Activities Director
Photo submitted by Patricia Serio

LUTZ-LAND O’LAKES WOMAN’S CLUB TREATS FRONT LINE VAX WORKERS

February 28, 2021

GFWC LUTZ-LAND O’LAKES WOMAN’S CLUB members, under the leadership of Chair Linda Mitchell, assembled 125 goodie bags filled with snacks and treats for the frontline workers serving the public at the University Mall Covid Vaccination Center. Ms. Mitchell delivered the snack bags to Nurse Corrie Pearson-Sailer (above) of Land O’Lakes, who was familiar with the Woman’s Club work and was most appreciative on behalf of all the staff.

Snack Donation to Unnamed National Guard Vaccine Worker

Chair Linda Mitchell handing Nurse Corrie Pearson-Sailer snack gift box
Photo submitted by Patricia Serio

LUTZ-LAND O’LAKES WOMAN’S CLUB MEMBERS HELP ANIMAL SHELTERS

February 28, 2021

GFWC LUTZ-LAND O’LAKES WOMAN’S CLUB members, Dianne Finn and Marguerite Humet, personally donated and delivered 138 NEW dog blankets to All Creatures Animal Hospital, which will in turn distribute them to local animal shelters. An additional delivery of a like amount will soon be made to other animal rescue groups. These blankets will go a long way in making the shelter dogs more comfy while awaiting adoption.

Blankets Donated to Dog Shelters — (l-r) Dianne Finn, All Creatures Animal Hospital staffer, Jeanette & Marguerite Humet
Photo submitted by Patricia Serio

GFWC LUTZ-LAND O’LAKES WOMAN’S CLUB GATHERS TO PREPARE VALENTINES

February 22, 2021

GFWC LUTZ-LAND O’LAKES WOMAN’S CLUB members met to prepare little gift bags of sweet treats and handmade Valentine greetings for the homebound and seniors served by Meals on Wheels of Tampa Bay.

The ladies worked assembly line-style to package chocolates and decorated Valentines to bring cheer to these clients who need assistance.

Members Making Valentines for Meals on Wheels
Photo submitted by Patricia Serio

GFWC LUTZ-LAND O’LAKES WOMAN’S CLUB ATTENDS ONE TEAM TAMPA BAY HUMAN TRAFFICKING EVENT

February 22, 2021

GFWC LUTZ-LAND O’LAKES WOMAN’S CLUB President Annette Bellingar and member Diana Kelly attended the recent Human Trafficking Volunteer Day at Grace Family Church in Lutz. This very informative day-long One Team Tampa Bay event was attended by hundreds of volunteers with speakers and representatives from many organizations bringing awareness to this very serious problem. There were training sessions on recognizing this sad situation in our own backyards and some heartbreaking first-hand accounts from victims. This event was planned prior to the Super Bowl as it historically has been an opportunity for the traffickers to market their victims who are often underage children. Informational brochures were given to attendees to distribute to their local convenient stores, etc. to alert workers to suspicious activities with contact phone numbers were provided.