100 WOMEN WHO CARE CELEBRATES MILESTONE WITH ITS 50TH MEETING AND DONATES $18,700 TO GOOD NEIGHBORS FOOD BANK

Thirteen years ago, Brenda George and Julie Webster co-founded the philanthropic group 100 Women Who Care of Pinellas County. Thirty women attended their first meeting. The idea was simple: Bring together women four times a year who pledge to donate $100 to an elected charity at each meeting, and see how their collective donation makes a bigger impact in the community.

Today, the 100 Women Who Care of Pinellas County group has nearly 200 members. Between member donations and grant money from the Richard M. Schulze Family Foundation, the group has given roughly $700,000 to local charities. This summer, the group celebrated its 50th meeting by selecting Good Neighbors Food Bank for its $18,700 donation.

“From the beginning, the goal has been to help and give back,” said Webster, who recalled the first meetings when the group would have contests for members bringing in new people. Often members would offer their own services – like haircuts or cooked dinners – as prizes. “It’s been wonderful seeing the receptivity in the community. And we’re still growing.”

George said the beauty of the philanthropic group is in its simplicity: that a group of women can make an overwhelming impact for a local nonprofit organization. “It feels good to give $100 to a charity that you believe in. It’s even better when that $100 turns into an almost $20,000 donation to that charity. You can see and feel the difference it makes.”

At the check presentation to Good Neighbors Food Bank, members saw the behind-the-scenes operation of a small but mighty food bank that boasts 100+ active volunteers who consistently provide 62,500 meals a week. Good Neighbors picks up food from stores as far away as Jacksonville, brings it to the storage facility in Clearwater, and distributes the food to nearly 100 communities a month in Pinellas, Manatee, Hillsborough and Pasco counties.

“It’s a lot of driving, and a lot of wear and tear on our vehicles,” said Heather Brooke, who started Good Neighbors in 2020 with her husband, Tim, in the driveway of their home. “This donation will go a long way to helping us stay on the road to supply the food we promise will be there.”

What differentiates Good Neighbors Food Bank is that, in addition to serving more than 70 partner agency food programs in the region, it operates a fully mobile food program that takes food directly into neighborhoods and areas of people most in need, giving food access to those struggling with transportation and mobility issues. Good Neighbors is also fully operational during hurricanes and storms, jumping into action to get food to communities as soon as possible.

Many communities rely on Good Neighbors to deliver seven days a week. Residents in senior neighborhoods, mobile home communities, and apartment buildings, for example, are able to shop for meat, grains, produce, sweets and other essentials for free, said volunteer coordinator Joan Hartsough, who began volunteering with Good Neighbors after she retired as a nurse. Unhoused individuals in extended stay hotels, respite, foster agencies, group homes, tent cities, rehabilitation facilities, halfway houses and veterans also benefit from food distributions that include any necessities to cook, use or eat the food that unhoused individuals may not have access to. A new addition is the blessing box, commonly known as Free Little Pantries, which stocks boxes with food so it’s available 24 hours a day.

Brooke said one of the biggest needs at the food bank is canned goods, which are no longer being distributed because of the short supply. “The need in our community continues to grow,” Brooke said. “And people who donate to Good Neighbors are assured that their donations, no matter how big or small, are going a long way to improve the wellness of our communities.”