Two social clubs from The Villages exceeded their own lofty expectations in their Adopt-a-Family food drive at Sam’s Club on Saturday.
“I’m overwhelmed by how it went,” said Village of Hemingway resident Darlene Mowbray, a member of the Pelican Social Club. “Generous does not begin to describe the people who supported us today. It was unbelievable.”
The Pelican Social Club and the Amigos Sports Club teamed up with the goal ofraising $12,000, along with non-perishable food items, for needy families of students at Wildwood and Fruitland Park elementary schools. Combined, the clubs have more than 700 members, including about 80 people who are in both groups.
“We want to be able to shop for 100 children this year,” Mowbray said. “Our goal is to provide $100 in toys and clothes for 100 children, plus we want to provide food and a holiday meal for each of their families.”
Judging from the four SUV loads of food collected, as well as the money donated, Mowbray said it appears the groups exceeded the goal.
Wildwood and Fruitland Park are among the neediest schools in the area, said Jim Wilson, a Village of Hadley resident and a member of the Amigos Sports Club.
“We work with the counselors to determine which students need help,” Wilson
said. “Then we adopt their entire families. If a family has only one student in the school and three kids who aren’t, we get presents for all four of them.”
Last year, with the community’s support, the Amigos Sports Club distributed 63 boxes of food and financially supported 75 children within 21 families.
More than 80 percent of the children in the two schools qualify for free orreduced lunch.
The groups also wanted to raise $1,500 to purchase a special tricycle for Ramon Camacho, a Fruitland Park fifth-grader with special needs. Ramon already uses a trike at school, so this one will be for him to have at home.
“We had a lot of people donate money specifically for the tricycle today,” Mowbray said. “We’re just so grateful for everybody who contributed.”
