By LINDA CHION KENNEY
linda@observernews.net
Rotarian Connie Gage for decades has had a servant’s heart, affecting life for many in the Greater Riverview and Brandon communities, as well as in South Tampa and beyond.
In part, that’s because near and dear to her heart is Rotary’s Camp Florida, a 21-acre property in Hillsborough County, which Rotary clubs throughout the state support.
“I feel incredible,” Gage said, when looking back on the accomplishments of her two-year tenure as president of the Rotary Club of South Tampa. During her tenure, she raised close to $100,000 for Rotary’s Camp Florida, billed as a “safe, fun space for children and adults with disabilities to learn, grow, and play.”
“I did what I set out to do, and I had a great team around me to accomplish just that,” said Gage, a past honorary mayor of Brandon, who serves on the camp’s board and has a soft spot for the camp and its mission.
Attesting to the noble cause of Rotary’s Camp Florida, a project of the Florida Rotary Districts, are Kim Tyson and Alan Feldman, representing the Rotary Club of FishHawk Riverview and the Rotary Club of Brandon, respectively.
“Camp Florida is an organization that provides services for children with special needs,” Tyson said, in a video supporting the camp. Feldman noted the many children over the decades who have needed a camp like this, as they battle such things as AIDS, cancer, hemophilia, Tourette syndrome and more.
Among the many individuals, families, groups and organizations associated with that work is 1Voice Foundation, which operates the 1Voice Academy, in partnership with the Homebound Program run by the Hillsborough County school district.
On site at Rotary’s Camp Florida in June, school superintendent Van Ayres signed a Memorandum of Understanding to extend the life of the initiative another five years. Also in attendance was Mary Ann Massolio, a pediatric hematology/oncology social worker, who in 2008 helped found the 1Voice Foundation after losing her son to cancer. The foundation provides emotional and educational support for pediatric cancer families while funding childhood cancer research.
Student Sophia Carraseo Fuentes, in a Bay News 9 video account of the MOU signing, gave high marks to camp attendance while undergoing cancer treatment. Attendance made her feel “a lot less lonely,” she said, “because I knew that the kids that were here understood what I was going through because they were going through similar things.”
With its lakeside views, chapel, community buildings and individual camp cabins nestled under expansive tree coverage, Rotary’s Camp Florida has been used for a wide range of events, including Rotary fish fry fundraisers, community meetings and chamber and business team-building activities.
Peggie Sherry heralds the camp as a meeting place for Faces of Courage, the nonprofit she leads and founded 22 years ago. Faces of Courage provides day outings, educational workshops and medically supervised overnight camps for women, children, and families touched by all types of cancer and blood disorders.
“We move all our own supplies in, all our people in, all of our campers in,” Sherry noted, in the camp’s informational video. “And then, when camp is over, we pack everything up and move it back out and then the next group moves in.”
A recent hiring puts Eleanor Saunders in charge of Rotary’s Camp Florida, after her long tenure as CEO of the Emergency Care Help Organization (ECHO), where she first served as a volunteer. ECHO provides food; clothing; and job, career and social services assistance at locations in Brandon and Riverview. ECHO serves “neighbors” in many ZIP codes throughout east and south Hillsborough County.
“Eleanor has the track record, she has the relationships, and she knows how to work with staff and volunteers,” Gage said, about the camp’s recent hiring, which was promoted as well by Stacey Efaw, who serves on Rotary’s Camp Florida board of directors. Years earlier, at ECHO, Efaw successfully supported Saunders to replace her as chief executive officer.
“These two ladies,” Gagesaid, “have had their hands in a lot of good things in this community for many years.”
For more, visit www.RotarysCampFlorida.org/; www.facesofcourage.org/; and www.1voicefoundation.org/.