The Little Women aren’t so little anymore when it comes to statewide awards.
The GFWC Little Women of Lutz, a club for girls ages 12 through 18 sponsored by the GWFC Lutz-Land O’ Lakes Woman’s Club, earned multiple awards at their Juniorette Annual State Meeting in Lakeland.
(Courtesy of Janet Hardy)
The event, held June 12-14, is an annual gathering of Florida’s General Federation of Women’s Clubs Junior Clubs.
The Lutz group earned four first-place awards and five second-place awards for its work in the community, taking home Club of the Year honors. In addition, the Little Women won for the second consecutive year the Marcia Bright Award, given to the club that interacts most with its GFWC Woman’s Club sponsor.
Club advisor Janet Hardy said her first interactions with the Little Women of Lutz revealed how organized they were.
“I went to one of their board meetings, and was just shocked at how many events they had scheduled,” she said. “It was really amazing. It really impressed me, honestly.”
While the club collected many awards in the span of a couple of days, they represent a year’s worth of work in the community, both with their sponsors and on their own. In addition to helping clean up Lutz Lake Fern Road three times a year, the Little Women collect books to be placed at laundromats, play bingo at the Baldomero Lopez State Veterans Nursing Home, and host fundraisers for breast cancer awareness.
They also pack boxes to send to overseas troops, collect cans for Metropolitan Ministries, and work with both the Ronald McDonald House and the Special Olympics.
Bethany Hanson is president of the Little Women of Lutz. The 15-year-old believes that the hard work of the members pays off both for the club and the area in which they live.
“I think it’s important to be active in the community because it helps so much,” Hanson said. “Even if you do a little bit of work, it makes a big impact. Whenever we volunteer, we get a sense of accomplishment, like we did something great. I always come back smiling because I know I helped someone, and that’s a feeling you can’t beat.”
The Little Women aren’t the only ones smiling. The GFWC Lutz-Land O’ Lakes Woman’s Club remains proud of their junior club’s accomplishments, and feels very close to its members.
“It’s almost like they’re family members,” said Pat Serio, a woman’s club member and an early advisor to the Little Women more than a decade ago. “We see them as daughters and granddaughters.”
In addition to helping their mentors on a variety of projects, the Little Women are learning valuable skills they can use later in life, Serio said. They get experience in public speaking and organizational leadership, handle funds through their treasury, and gain confidence from taking a hands-on approach to their work at a young age.
She also credits Hardy with encouraging them to implement new ideas and get the word out regarding their activities, making the group stronger and more effective.
“She’s doing a fabulous job,” Serio said of Hardy.
While the Little Women of Lutz boast just 17 members — with nearly half of them set to leave because of age limits — the group beat larger chapters, including some with multiple sponsoring clubs to support them. Hanson attributes their success to working as a group and finding ways to accomplish their tasks on their own, allowing them to grow and succeed together.
“I think our chapter is different because even though we’re small, we do a lot,” she said. “Unlike many of the large chapters, the members do the work themselves and the advisors don’t. The secret to being successful is jut working together, as a team.”
For more information about the Little Women of Lutz, call Hardy at (813) 758-0979.
Published July 9, 2014
See this story in print: Click Here
