The rush to shop came early. The thrill of finding a hidden treasure among used items knew no alarm clock.
“I was like,” GFWC Lutz-Land O’ Lakes Woman’s Club chairwoman Kay Taylor exclaimed, “‘It’s not like its Black Friday!’”
While it was a Friday, Taylor and her fellow GFWC members were a little surprised to see such an initial rush at the start of their annual flea market the group held over the weekend in front of the Lutz Branch Library. However, that feeling turned to happiness with the turnout from the local communities who visited the booths set up to sell their used items.
“All of our ladies brought in their stuff (to sell), and we only had one drop-off from a church this year,” Taylor said. “It was just amazing how the community stepped up and helped us.”
Like any other event or organization, COVID affected the GFWC club. Not only did membership decline to under 100 people, but Taylor said the group was unable to hold the flea market for some time. The group also had to move from its usual location — from the Old Lutz School building, where the booths could be in the classrooms — and then hold it outside with (luckily) favorable weather.
“The county only allows 10 people in a building at a time,” Taylor said, “so this allowed us to have a big open-air event and welcome all the people who were eager to get out here.”
GFWC members, donning their iconic green shirts, set up booths that were selling all kinds of items from clothes to jewelry to furniture to homewares — and slightly used items that made it look like an antique-store tent town.
Taylor estimates the GFWC, which was founded in 1960, will raise somewhere between $5,000 to $10,000.
The flea market is one of two major fundraisers the group hosts annually, the other being the arts and crafts fair around Christmas. The funds raised during those two events not only go to supporting the other philanthropic endeavors the GFWC club takes on, but also toward the scholarships they award to local high school students in Lutz and Land O’ Lakes.
“We’ll go to the homeless shelters and the nursing homes and help out Meals on Wheels,” Taylor said. “We have the laundromat program where we put books in the laundromats in needy areas. We help out with domestic violence organizations and we’re really big into recycling, as well, so as part of the largest women’s volunteer organization, we’re just trying to do our part.”
Published March 09, 2022
