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First Church of the Nazarene

Meals on Wheels East Pasco looks to expand reach

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Meals on Wheels East Pasco executive director Beth Aker paid a visit to the East Pasco Networking Group’s Nov. 12 breakfast meeting at IHOP in Dade City, to give some updates on the 501c3 nonprofit organization and its upcoming initiatives.

Each day, Meals on Wheels East Pasco provides hot, balanced and nutritious meals to seniors, people with disabilities and other members of the Dade City and Zephyrhills communities who have limited ability to shop or prepare meals for themselves.

Meals on Wheels East Pasco executive director Beth Aker was a guest speaker at a Nov. 12 East Pasco Networking Group breakfast meeting at IHOP in Dade City. (Kevin Weiss)

“If you’re hungry, we’re gonna feed ya. It’s just that simple,” Aker said of the nonprofit’s mission.

In addition to Aker, Meals on Wheels relies on the help of dozens of volunteers to prepare and deliver meals from its facility on 15th Avenue in Zephyrhills.

Since taking over its operations in 2015, Aker said Meals on Wheels has partnered with 10 other charities to receive food donations and contributions from a host of local grocery stores, businesses and big box stores.

Those partnerships have allowed the agency to cut spending on food alone from $40,000 to $50,000 per year, to about $500 per month now, she said.

“When we were spending all that money, we were just spinning our wheels trying to keep up with everything. Now we have partnered with so many organizations that recognized not to throw things away,” Aker said.

All told, the agency feeds upwards of 1,500 people per week, Aker said.

That figure includes supplying bulk quantities of food to groups, such as Moore-Mickens Education Center and Cornerstone Center for Women, as well as area homeless.

“When I tell you that we give them food, we don’t just give them our leftover bread.

“They get meats, and they get vegetables and fruit and nonperishables, and they go out with 10 or 12 or 15 boxes of food to support their organization, and we do that every single day,” she explained.

As for its meal delivery service, Aker said the organization works to cater to the medical needs of the many seniors it regularly serves, whether they have diabetes, diverticulitis, heart problems and so on. She noted, meals aren’t prepared with salt or sugar, but are far from bland, with diverse menu choices each week.

“It’s not a TV dinner, by any stretch of the imagination,” she quipped.

Aker added the organization also makes it a point to help celebrate each senior’s birthday or anniversary with cards, cakes and more.

Meals on Wheels East Pasco provides hot meals to seniors, people with disabilities and other members of the Dade City and Zephyrhills communities who have limited ability to shop or prepare meals for themselves. (Courtesy of Meals on Wheels East Pasco)

It’s the personal touch that she believes the homebound seniors, who sometimes get lonely, appreciate.

She went as far to say the organization has become “the eyes and ears of family members who live elsewhere” for those seniors.

“We get to be there when things happen to them, when they’re not well, when they’ve fallen,” Aker said.

“We have to take care of each other. We’re all aging. Unless we pass away, we’re not getting out of this without aging,” she said.

With that, Aker revealed the the agency’s next major goal is to build a community resource center that could serve seniors, veterans and single-parent families. Services would help those in need get help for elder law, reverse mortgages, food insecurities and more.

Aker said such a facility is something “missing” in East Pasco. Possible locations she listed include the abandoned SunTrust building on Gall Boulevard in Zephyrhills, or, building upon existing property Meals on Wheels owns.

The project’s first dinner fundraiser was held earlier this month at First Church of the Nazarene in Zephyrhills; Aker said the project’s also begun to receive support from some state representatives. “It was just a drop in the bucket, but we have to start somewhere,” she said of the initial fundraiser.

Ultimately, Aker wants the resource center to be a place “to give our seniors a purpose for today, and give our youth a purpose for tomorrow.”

She put it like this: “At the end of my day, I am a servant, and I want to be able to make that difference, and providing resources for people who don’t know where to go, who are afraid to reach out, they’re terrified, they live alone — whatever their picture looks like, they should have someplace to just pick up a phone say, ‘Can you help me?’”

Elsewhere, Aker said she would someday like to expand Meals on Wheels’ meal delivery service to the Wesley Chapel area, but currently doesn’t have the volunteer capacity to make it a regular route every day.

“I would love to be in that area, to expand over to there, but the logistics portion of that is a little bit larger,” she said.

Published November 20, 2019

Loving hands lift up men in need

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When Gustavo Cabrera arrived at the Loving Hands Ministries campus in Dade City, he had no idea about the kind of impact it would have on his life.

His path to the ministry began while he was in Miami.

He had taken up with bad company there and was implicated in a robbery.

The staff and residents of the Loving Hands Ministries, in Dade City, stand in front of a portrait of the organization’s founders, Wendell and Nancy Wilson. The ministry also has another location in Palmetto. (Brian Fernandes)

After the incident, he began a spiritual quest to get his life in order and came across a pamphlet about Loving Hands Ministries – a program that relies on the study of Scripture, to help men get their lives back on track.

After his two-year stay on the Dade City campus, he went on to graduate from Southeastern University and is now a minister helping to build churches.

Loving Hands Ministries has two campuses. One is in Dade City and the other is in Palmetto.

Marshall Walker is program director for the Dade City campus.

He, too, went through the ministry’s two-year program.

“The reason it’s become successful for me — and I believe for all the men — is that it’s a spiritual regeneration,” Walker said.

The program requires the men to spend several hours each day studying the Bible.

Walker described himself as a struggling drug addict when he moved onto the Dade City campus.

Building a relationship with Jesus and getting away from worldly distractions changed him, Walker said.

“Sin is fun for a season, but then after a while, it’s not fun anymore,” Walker said.

Loving Hands Ministries was founded in the 1980s by Pastor Wendell Wilson and his wife, Nancy, who wanted to help men like Cabrera and Walker.

Pastor Wilson had led a number of different churches throughout Florida, but after ministering to men on the street and in jails, he felt compelled to do more, said Kim Dodson, his daughter and current president of the organization.

In 1982, the Wilsons opened their Bradenton home to men who were struggling with addiction or other issues — and encouraged them to redirect their lives.

The Wilsons opened the first campus of Loving Hands Ministries in 1984 in Bradenton. That ministry later relocated to Palmetto.

The Dade City campus opened in 1992. It now has five buildings for living quarters, a dining area, a gym and a food storage area. There’s also a recreational facility and a basketball court.

And, the foundation has been laid there for a new chapel. It will provide the men more room for their spiritual work.

Men come to the ministry in different ways.

Some are court-ordered; others join voluntarily.

Some travel from different parts of Florida. Others, from different states.

Some learn about the program when they’re in the hospital, or in jail, or at a church.

The two-year program keeps the men productive — with cooking, daily chores and several hours of Bible study daily.

Through such responsibilities, the men can discover their gifts, Dodson said.

She put it like this: “We teach these men that their life matters and they’re created by God for his purposes, and to be used daily to serve someone else.”

During the second year of the program, the men begin to learn how to minister to each other on campus.

They also visit churches to share their testimonies — hoping to reach others who can benefit from the ministry.

Occasionally, they get away, too, for deep sea fishing, to watch the Tampa Bay Rays, or to enjoy other outings.

Those who graduate from the program, like Walker, have the chance to build careers at their respective campuses.

Some have gone on to higher education. Some are now businessmen, or ministers.

Loving Hands Ministries relies on individual, community and church donations, and occasional fundraisers, such as yard sales, golf tournaments and banquets.

In fact, it is planning to celebrate its 35th anniversary with a banquet on Nov. 21, at the First Church of the Nazarene in Zephyrhills. David West, of Making a Difference Inc., will be the keynote speaker.

Dodson noted: “All these years we’ve never charged a man or their family.”

As her late father used to say: “You can’t put a price on a life.”

Even though her parents have passed away, Dodson wants to continue their vision, with plans to branch out to South Florida.

“Overall, we’re just so blessed with the success rate,” Dodson remarked.

“In the end, it’s the change that takes place in a man’s heart that really changes him,” she said.

To find out more about the organization, or the banquet, visit LovingHands.net or call Marshall Walker at (352) 523-1399.

Loving Hands Ministries banquet
When: Nov. 21 at 6:30 p.m.
Where: First Church of the Nazarene, 6155 12th St., Zephyrhills
Cost: Free admission, suggested minimum donation of $200 for a party of eight
Details: The organization is celebrating its 35th anniversary, with a fundraiser to support its work.
Info: To RSVP and donate online, visit LovingHands.net, or call Marshall Walker at (352) 523-1399.

Published October 30, 2019

New space sought for Zephyrhills Senior Center

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Pasco County Senior Services is seeking a new location for the Zephyrhills Senior Center, after its abrupt closure at St. Elizabeth’s Episcopal Church.

Last month, the church informed the county it no longer could support the program, citing financial reasons.

The senior center closed on Dec. 31. It been operated at the church since 2010.

The Zephyrhills Senior Center has been located at St. Elizabeth’s Episcopal Church since 2010, but closed on Dec. 31, after the church said it no longer could support the program, citing financial concerns. (File)

Under a public-private agreement, the church lent out its multipurpose space at no cost, while the county provided meals and other services to seniors in the community.

Dozens of residents took advantage of the Zephyrhills programs each day.

Those seniors have since been redirected to the Dade City Senior Center, until the county finds a new facility to support a program in Zephyrhills.

Officials hope to pinpoint a permanent location within the next few weeks, likely under another public-private scenario.

It’s not the first time Zephyrhills seniors have been forced to trek to Dade City to receive meals and services.

The senior space was shut down in September 2016 for kitchen renovations, after black mold was discovered.

The facility reopened nine months later, after a $33,000 makeover fully funded by the church.

Besides Dade City and Zephyrhills, the county’s senior services division operates facilities in Port Richey, New Port Richey, Land O’ Lakes and Shady Hills.

At each facility, hot, balanced meals are served five days a week, free to seniors age 60 and older.

The locales also provide seniors with entertainment and socialization.

Card games, bingo and puzzles were some of the regularly scheduled events at the Zephyrhills Senior Center.

Movies, live music and guest speakers were also presented there each month.

Those broad offerings will remain at the new location, according to Diane Cunningham, senior services manager for Pasco County.

“When we move to the new location, we will continue to offer a variety of activities, exercise, events, trips, nutritional education and nutrition counseling,” Cunningham wrote in an email to The Laker/Lutz News.

“We are working with other organizations to increase activities and provide more informational programs,” she added.

The Zephyrhills Senior Center has had several locations during its history.

The senior program has also been hosted by First Church of the Nazarene in Zephyrhills and Trinity Church of Wesley Chapel.

From 1993 to 2008, the Zephyrhills Senior Center was located on Airport Road and owned by CARES (Community Aging and Retirement Services) Inc.

Published January 3, 2018