May 31, 2023
STORY AND PHOTOS BY MICHELE MILLER
What’s What New Port Richey
Pastor CJ Jones wasn’t prepared to talk. His charity, Father & Son Free Pantry, was a runner-up, so to speak, in a process where representatives of three local non-profits had five minutes to pitch the worthiness of the work they were doing in the local community.
When given a last-minute opportunity to make his case after one charity bowed out, he nailed it. In the end, Pastor CJ’s words helped garner a $5,700 donation from 100 + Women Who Care Pasco with a matching grant to come.
It was a blessing that hit like a bolt out of the blue, one that would enable him to feel a bit more confident about signing a one-year lease to keep the food pantry up and running after being given notice that the monthly rent renewal for the pantry was doubling to $6,000.
“God had given me a vision for a grocery store and I just painted that vision for them”, Pastor CJ said, retelling the story about the work he and partner Pastor Ken Waters have embarked on with the help of volunteers.
The food pantry, an offshoot of the Father & Son Worship Center in Land O’Lakes, isn’t simply a place where people are given a box of food, he said.
Those who come to shop are offered a grocery store-like experience where people can shop with dignity, “Because it’s hard enough to come in here asking for help in the first place.”
Special care is taken in setting up food displays – from boxed and canned goods, fresh produce, and bakery items along with the meat items stored in multiple freezers. Veterans and first responders are offered special shopping days, including the residents of “Let Us Do Good Village,” a mortgage-free community established by the Tunnels to Towers Foundation that recently opened in Land O’Lakes for wounded veterans, Fallen First Responder families, and Gold Star families.
“They’re going to walk out with at least $100-$200 worth of product and they get to shop for what they want,” Pastor Ken said. “We’re a faith-based ministry. Food is the methodology for whatever we do.”
“We always open with a prayer because without God we wouldn’t have this,” he said. “We’re changing the world one person at a time.”
The same could be said of 100+ Women Who Care Pasco a group that is changing the local community one charity at a time.
I first wrote about this altruistic organization in April of 2022 for What’s What NPR after attending a meeting where Hero to a Child / Guardian ad Litem Pasco, a non-profit that aids abused and neglected children entangled in the family court system, was awarded $4,650. (Read the story here).
Janie Greene and Susan Rossi are the founders of 100 + Women Who Care, Pasco, which is an offshoot of a national organization rooted in Michigan.
In its first year, the local group has dolled out some $23,000 to charities such as The Runaways Animal Rescue, The African American Club of Pasco, Be a Light Mission Services, Greene said. Some of those charities boosted that initial donation, after qualifying for a matching grant that Greene and Rossi apply for through the Schultz Family Foundation.
Add to that the $6150.00 that went to the St. Vincent de Paul Society, Our Lady Queen of Peace Conference at the most recent meeting in May after hearing about the charitable non-profit from Lawrence Feist. Also presenting were Sharon Scheiblein spokesperson for Tip My Ear TNR & Rescue and Patti Templeton from One Community Now who was presenting for the third time.
I was and am still awed by the simplicity of this method of giving.
When all is said and done it takes a mere hour of time at meetings held four times a year. The presentations, followed by a timed question and answer session, offer a better glimpse into the good work being done by non-profits in Pasco County. Those who donate can rest assured that their money is staying within their own community.
“I always feel elated when we leave here,” said co-founder, Susan Rossi, as members checked in at the last meeting. “These charities we hear from are so worthy and every time we come here we learn about three more that are equally worthy.”
“You walk out of these meetings and people feel so good about what they’ve heard and what they are contributing. You see all these charities that are doing so much good and are reaching so many people. You feel so good when you leave that you just want to repeat the experience”, said co-founder Janie Greene. “Susan and I just never believed it would be this big. I do attribute it to God. I don’t have any other explanation than that.”
While having 100 + women is the goal, membership has grown from about 34 to 85 women who pledge to make $100 quarterly donations – either as an individual or in groups of 2-4 – to one of three presenting 501(c)(3) charities that are selected by a simple vote tally.
“I think this is so great. It’s amazing that there are so many legitimate charities doing so much work out there. It’s just so sad that we can’t give them all money”, said Karen Ludbrook an original member, who as a parishioner of Journey Church in New Port Richey, helped arrange for the group to host meetings there.
100+Women Who Care, Pasco, is making a dent in doing good things. Their donations have helped procure musical instruments for youth enrolled in the Arts Program at the African American Club of Pasco. They have given aid to the homeless and the down and out so they can turn their lives around. Helped provide meals, clothing, or funds to pay a utility bill for those on the verge; suitcases, grief counseling, tutoring, dance lessons, soccer and basketball league fees and other enhancements that can bring a sense of normalcy to a kid moving through the foster care system.
And they’ve helped to keep a ministry afloat for the time being so that people in need can shop with dignity as happens twice a week at the Father & Son Food Pantry in Land O’Lakes.
Want to join or more info?
The next meeting will be held on August 9, 2023, and nominations for charities are happening now. For more information or to join 100+Women Who Care, Pasco, go to 100womenwhocarepasco.com
Link to these local nonprofits mentioned in the story.
- Father and Son Free Food Pantry
- Be a Light Mission Services
- Hero to a Child / Guardian ad Litem Pasco
- The African American Club of Pasco,
- The Runaways Animal Rescue
- One Community Now
- Schultz Family Foundation
- Tip My Ear TNR & Rescue
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