Woman’s club serves Sunrise
LAND O’ LAKES – The GFWC Lutz-Land O’ Lakes Woman’s Club held a bunco and luncheon fundraiser to help support Sunrise of Pasco County, a shelter for women and children victims of domestic and sexual violence.
Club members also filled up the Sunrise representatives’ vehicle with supplies for the women and children at the shelter.
Tamika Thomas Simpson, of the GFWC Plant City Woman’s Club, served as the guest speaker. Visit gfwclutzlandolakeswomansclub.org to learn more about the club.
Keep Pasco Beautiful collects 25-plus tons of trash
PASCO COUNTY – More than 1,100 volunteers rolled up their sleeves for the annual Keep Pasco Beautiful Cleanup in September.
According to the county, 1,170 volunteers cleared 51,320 pounds of litter from 52 locations in Pasco County, including roadsides, parks and waterways. The effort logged 3,499.25 volunteer hours, generating a cost-benefit of $121,738.90.
“Believe it or not, nearly 80% of the trash in our waterways actually starts on land,” Keep Pasco Beautiful President Alicia Hacker said. “When our volunteers collected around 25 tons of litter, they weren’t just tidying up. They were preventing all that debris from flowing through rivers and storm drains straight into the Gulf. That kind of impact is huge.”
This annual event is part of the International Coastal Cleanup coordinated by Ocean Conservancy.
On the web: KeepPascoBeautiful.org.
Wesley Chapel establishing an Elks Lodge
WESLEY CHAPEL – Wesley Chapel made a major advance toward establishing an Elks Lodge when more than 134 potential members signed the petition for a Dispensation to Institute the Lodge.
The action was taken during a meeting held Oct. 1 in the Harley-Davidson of Wesley Chapel meeting room. The petition has been forwarded to the Florida State Central District Deputy and the Florida State Elks Association’s State Sponsor. After review and approval, it will be submitted to the Grand Lodge of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks for final approval, according to Jerry Bianchi, chairman of the organization committee.
Those who signed the petition included residents from Wesley Chapel, Land O’Lakes, Lutz and New Tampa. Once the dispensation is received, a date, time and location will be scheduled for the institution of the lodge.
Bianchi explained that everyone initiated at the time of the Institution will hold charter membership. He said membership rolls will stay open until then and meetings will continue to be held regularly to process membership applications.
The organizing committee voted to set the application/initiation fee at $25. The annual dues will be determined once the lodge’s by-laws are developed and approved. It was also announced that the new lodge will be officially sponsored by St. Petersburg Lodge No. 1224.
