Local Charity Reps Thankful for the Help, See Tough Times Ahead

The new year, like the one before it, promises more of the same when it come to raising funds for charities struggling to meet a growing need with decreasing funds.

That’s why the additional boost was well-received by representatives of the charities that on Jan. 6 received donations from the Rotary Club of Brandon ’86.

In accepting their checks, which collectively amounted to under $14,000, the representatives talked about the hope that sustains them in the largesse of community service organizations.

“We really need this, this year, we’ve taken some real hits in funding this year,” said Peter Watkins, president and chief executive officer of New Horizons Group Homes in Brandon, which provides a Christian, family, group-living alternative for developmentally challenged adults.

The economic situation of the day, coupled with the Medicaid-waiver funding cut, he said, means that the check from the Rotarians, used “for finances and operating costs, will go a long way,” Watkins said.

The check received by Everyday Blessings, a 72-acre child-care agency that houses foster care children who have been removed from their homes due to physical, sexual and/or emotional abuse, abandonment or neglect, will help the group “continue its mission to keep siblings together who have been placed in foster care,” said Richard Stroud, the agency’s executive director.

Karen Brooks, enter director of LifeCare of Brandon, said the Rotary check will help her group “fulfill its mission in Brandon and in our new center in South Shore," where, she said, the need is deep and growing.

LifeCare provides pregnancy and parenting support and plans to expand this month to SouthShore, at 310 1st St. N.E. in Ruskin.

According to Reggie Osenton, who as immediate past president of the Rotary club serves as the group’s endowment chair, close to $14,000 was distributed to seven non-profit organizations at the club’s Jan. 6 meeting at The Bridges Retirement Community.

The money is raised during the year from fundraising efforts, such as the at Rotary’s Camp Florida, and part is put into an endowment for future endeavors.

One such endeavor is the building of a $95,000 water park feature at on Parsons Avenue, which Osenton said is a feature to expect this year.

“That’s been a long time coming but it looks like it’s going to come to fruition this year,” he said.

In receiving his check from the Rotarians, Jim Harmon, executive director of Rotary’s Camp Florida, also had nothing but praise to offer in return.

“This time of the year is our toughest time financially and this is going to help offset that, as we go into the new year,” Harmon said.

The mission of the camp, at 1915 Camp Florida Rd., off Lakewood Drive, is "to ensure that all special needs children have the opportunity to experience the same fun and joy of camping that we did as children, enriching them in body, mind, and spirit."

As Harmon put it: “This camp allows them a chance to have a somewhat normal childhood.”

He noted a camper who had both legs amputated at the knee, who came to the park and had “a great time.”

“This was his time to have a childhood,” Harmson said.

Stacey Efaw is the executive director of the Emergency Care Help Organization (ECHO), at 507 North Parsons Ave. ECHO serves more than 700 area residents a month from the communities of Brandon, Lithia, Dover, Gibsonton, Seffner, Valrico and Riverview.

The group provides food, clothing and household items to individuals and families in emergency situations up to four times in a lifetime, and that need has been exploding in recent years, Efaw said.

“We’re going to use this check to help with the new client service center,” Efaw said about her group’s Rotary donation. “People have a lot more problems than food and clothing, which we can’t now address. They have additional needs, such as paying rent and finding a job, and the client service center will help with that.”

The center is scheduled to open in February, “and we have been working on it for years,” Efaw said.

Debbie Meegan is the executive director of the Brandon Outreach Clinic, at 517 North Parsons Ave., which provides medical care to residents who work, but can’t afford the available access to health care insurance.

Her group’s Rotary check, she said, “is the gift of life” for people who "can't afford the access to health care," which is a situation that deepens in recessionary times as hours and salaries are cut.

“With it we’ll provide life-saving health care to people who don’t have access to health care,” she said, “We’ll help buy medication, get medical X-rays and provide lab work and office visits.”

The check, she added, “means a lot.”

Also receiving a check, but not in attendance at the Jan. 6 meeting, was the I Am Hope Cafe, founded by the Greater Brandon Ecumenical Ministries to feed and tend to the "health, recovery and independence needs" of the homeless.