Homegrown sale benefits Zephyrhills hospice program
By B.C. Manion
Visitors to this Wesley Chapel home might feel a tad bit disoriented if they’ve never been there before.
From outside, it appears to be like any other well-kept suburban home in the Country Crossing subdivision.
But step inside and you’ll find thousands of books and VHS tapes, all neatly arranged on shelves in the hallway, the living room and the dining room.
Welcome to Barbara Todaro’s book sale, an event she holds to raise money for Gulfside Regional Hospice Inc.
It began small, as these things often do.
She enjoys reading and wanted to buy some books, but found that the prices in bookstores were a bit steeper than she wanted to pay. An idea popped into her head.
What about collecting books and selling them to help Gulfside Hospice?
It began as a sale on her front yard. Then it moved into the garage.
Now, it takes her entire hallway and two full rooms – which she has devoted exclusively to the cause. She and her mom, Jeanette Tatro, who is a volunteer for Gulfside, work together to sell the books.
They hold the sale about every 6-8 weeks, and all of the proceeds go to Gulfside Center for Hospice Care in Zephyrhills, which is one of the places where Tatro works as a volunteer.
So far, they’ve raised about $1,000.
The two-day sale is on Fridays and Saturdays, from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. each day.
Both women said they owe a debt of gratitude for the kindness bestowed on Edmund Tatro – Jeanette’s husband and Barbara’s father – as he was approaching death.
“They took such great care of my dad,” Todaro said.
“They helped bathe him. They talked to him about death, helped prepare him for death. They helped us, too,” Tatro said.
Sandy Keezer, a volunteer who works in Gulfside Hospice’s thrift store, dropped by to pick up a few books from the sale.
She brought along her friend, Marie Nelson of Zephyrhills. She was thrilled by the selection and prices.
Children’s books cost a quarter, paperbacks are 50 cents and hardbacks are $1, Todaro said. Videotapes are a quarter and textbooks are $3. There are some specially marked items that are more expensive because of their special nature, she said.
But she’s open to bargaining, and anyone who spends at least $3 gets a free children’s book.
Todaro also accepts book donations, but is not in the market right now. A man named Frank Menendez from Tampa recently donated 1,800 books.
He told Todaro that he had found out about the book sale online and wanted to help a good cause.
To find out the dates for the next book sale call the organization’s thrift store in Zephyrhills at (813) 788-5461.
