2023 National Day of Service with Helping Hands Food Pantry

Before 2020, the Helping Hands Food Pantry of Wesley Chapel was serving about 50 families per week with donations of food and essentials. Once COVID-19 took full effect, the pantry went to providing bags of food for over 500 families weekly. Three years later, the need continues to grow with no sight of a diminishing line of families in need in our near future. 

The GFWC Pasco Juniors used the opportunity of September 30th, our GFWC National Day of Service, to assist with collecting nonperishable foods for the local pantry. In the four hours on a Saturday afternoon, our ladies assisted volunteers with collecting and organizing over 1,400 pounds of food. 

If you know someone in need in the Wesley Chapel Area, distributions are made on Wednesday Mornings located at 29617 State Road 54, Wesley Chapel, FL 33545. 

Find out more about the Helping Hands Pantry of Wesley Chapel online Here.

Bunco To The Rescue

 This year's Dog Days of Summer Bunco Fundraiser was another raving success. With 44 players, the GFWC Pasco Juniors provided a fun filled afternoon for community members. In addition to ticket sales, opportunity baskets were donated by local businesses and community members for additional donations. This year's proceeds are benefitting Love to the Rescue and Planned Pethood of Zephyrhills. 

Love to the Rescue is a local nonprofit on a mission to bring dogs from the animal services shelter into their own foster homes. This personalized attention allows the animal to be observed and placed with a truly fur-ever home when ready for adoption. Click on their logo above to see who in their care needs adopting.

Planned Pethood offers affordable veterinarian services in Pasco County. At their Zephyrhills location, Pasco Animal Services and residents can bring in a trapped, stray feline to be vaccinated, neutered, and prepared to be released back to its home. This program is at a minimal cost and greatly reduces the population of cats in Pasco County. Click on their logo above to find out more about their services.

Make sure to follow the GFWC Pasco Juniors on Facebook for next year's Bunco fundraiser and other upcoming events!

A Small Blessing In Every Bag

At their June General Meeting, The GFWC Pasco Junior Woman's Club members gathered to get an update from Leona Wells about the services provided by Metropolitan Ministries. Starting from a collaboration of 13 churches in the Tampa, Florida, Metro Min has grown larger every year in the number of families assisted and volunteer hours provided. After 51 years, they now have 3 different outreach centers locations in the area; Dade City, Holiday, and Downtown Tampa. According to United Way, 56% of people in Pasco County are asset limited/income constrained, meaning they are employed people who are still at risk of becoming homeless. 

Metro Min's outreach centers provide guidance and services to public resources in the area to connect these individuals or families with support that can assist with their need. In addition to the outreach centers, the 2 of their campuses also house 300 families every night that are under their care for midterm shelter. Their program averages a 6-8 month stay while undergoing counseling and educational programs to transition these families out of homelessness and into a stable living situation with an 89% success rate.

Another program that Metro Min provides in the area is their Pasco Metro BrigAIDe. This mobile unit provides support to the homeless that are in Pasco County and not currently in a midterm shelter. The GFWC Pasco Juniors assembled 100 blessing bags filled with essentials for the Metro BrigAIDe. In an assembly line style, the members grabbed a reusable bag and started to fill it with hygiene essentials, snacks, and reusable food utensils. These bags will be distributed throughout Pasco County to give a little "blessing" to each who receives one.

A Huge Thank You to all who donated items for our 100 Blessing Bags!

The Cleaning Pros

Lucas, Macyszyn, and Dyer Law Firm

Florida Department of Health

Connerton Dental Care

GFWC Blue Umbrella Club

Morningstar Storage in Wesley Chapel

Chari-Tea Fundraiser For The LYN Fund

 A few weeks ago, the GFWC Pasco Juniors hosted their second annual Mother's Day Chari-Tea Fundraiser. The ladies enjoyed a proper tea with food and additional winnings all around. This year's fundraiser benefited The LYN Fund which provides up to $5,000 in financial assistance to anyone undergoing treatment for a woman related cancer in Pinellas or Pasco County. 

The GFWC Pasco Juniors will be able to make a donation of over $1,000 in June.
Thank you for joining us!

A big thank you to our sponsors:
Costco of Lutz
Texas Roadhouse of Wesley Chapel
Elizabeth Schoppman with Hibiscus and Palms
Beth Reed with 31 Gifts

For more information about The LYN Fund, please visit TheLYNFund.org

Mother's Day Gift For Families In Need

In a small complex in Pasco County, Sunrise of Pasco Domestic and Sexual Abuse shelter is called a temporary home for several dozen women and their families. The GFWC Pasco Junior strive to support this organization throughout the year. Once activity that the Juniors have been providing for several years, is the opportunity for any children at the shelter to pick out jewelry for their mom and create a handmade card for Mother's Day. This year, several children took advantage of the opportunity to pick out something special without any cost to their family. Although it's a small item, mother's always cherish something that is picked out by their children and wrapped with love.

To find out more about Sunrise of Pasco, visit SunrisePasco.org

First Clothing Swap of 2023

The GFWC Pasco Juniors have been host their Free Clothing Swap for over 5 years now. Each event brings in hundreds of clothing items and household goods free for those in need or who would just like something new to them. All items left at time of closing are donated to Sunrise of Pasco or local schools in need. 

Our April Clothing Swap produced a donation of 333 pieces of clothing, 22 pairs of shoes, and several home good items to Sunrise of Pasco, along with 57 pieces of clothing that will be going to local schools in need for their clothes closets. 

The Next Clothing Swap is July 6th from 6:30pm-8pm at the Lexington Oaks Community Center in Wesley Chapel.

Text "info" to 813-461-3131 to find out how you can get involved and get updates for events like this.

Lucky Bingo Night

Following our March General Meeting, the Pasco Juniors joined in a fun game of Bingo with some additional friends to win gift cards from various restaurants in the area. Lots of fun was had by all and some even had luck on their side!

Thank you to our local restaurants who have donated to our club!

Text "info" to 813-461-3131 to find out how you can get involved and get updates for events like this.

2022 Recap and Celebration

At the beginning of each year, hundreds of GFWC Clubs send their reporting for the previous year to the state and national levels. This reporting shows the impact our members are making on the communities they live in and strength of our organization as a whole. At our February Meeting, our ladies celebrated in "Galentine's Day" style all that we accomplished in 2022.

In 2022 alone, our small club was able to accomplish the following:

Members logged over 400 volunteer hours and almost 350 fundraising hours.

We wrote checks from fundraisers and grants of $1000 to Celebrate Birthdays, $1000 to Humane Society of Pasco, $400 to Sunrise of Pasco, two $250 Scholarships to High School Seniors, and $200 to the Sean Bartell Memorial Foundation.

In addition to those checks, we donated over 1000 pieces of clothing to Sunrise of Pasco and local schools, $740 in school supplies to the WISE school supplies store for Pasco teachers, packed 100 backpacks for the Metro Min BrigAIDE to support the homeless and at risk, sponsored 4 Children at WCES for Christmas as part of their Angel Tree Program, made valentine’s for the 80 residents at Lopez Veterans Nursing home, had a serving day at Trinity Café, a beach clean-up, a meal day for American Cancer Society’s Hope Lodge, provided jewelry for the children at Sunrise of Pasco’s Shelter for Mother’s Day, and had several volunteer days with Metropolitan Ministries.

In celebration and appreciation, each member received a charm bracelet with charms to signify the various activities or fundraisers they chaired for the year. In addition, a special gift was created for our outgoing President and incoming Board of Directors for 2023.

Text "info" to 813-461-3131 to find out how you can get involved and start giving back in our community.

Valentine's For Our Veterans

For Valentine's Day, the Pasco Juniors gathered at a member's home to create hand made Valentine's Day Cards for the 80 Veterans at the Baldomero Lopez Veterans Nursing home in Land O'lakes. In addition to these valentine's sharing our member's gratitude for their service, the members properly created 350 Stars For Our Troops. Each Star is places in a small plastic bag to protect it and share a simple message: 

"I am part of our American flag that has flown over the USA. I can no longer fly. The sun and winds caused me to become tattered and torn. Please carry me as a reminder that YOU are not forgotten.”

These cards and stars were delivered on Valentine's Day to the Nursing home to share our love for those that have served and now reside in our community.

To find out more about Stars for Our Troops, please visit StarsForOurTroops.org

Our Members Gather For The Holidays

Each December our members enjoy our new board of directors installation and celebrate together with a social meeting. Since all our current members celebrate Christmas, we enjoy an ornament exchange. This year, the ladies had lots of fun stealing back their favorite ornaments to place on their trees at home!

Thank you to Kami with Premier Creations Catering for our delish meal!

PremierCreationsCompany.com