Published March 2023 in the International Women’s Month edition of the Beacon
Written by JULIE CHURCH TBN Correspondent
When Mimi Frezza moved to Safety Harbor 7 years ago, she was looking for a way to meet new people and get involved in the community.
Today, she is president of the GFWC North Pinellas Woman’s Club, a group that works locally to bring about positive change with an unwavering dedication to community improvement through volunteer service.
With more than 180 members, the club is one of the largest in the state of Florida, and members are out in the community every day doing a variety of activities including reading to children, cooking meals for those in need, participating in Honor Flights to Washington D.0 with local veterans, and working with a local refugee organization.
“They call us the blue shirt ladies, because we wear blue shirts when we volunteer, and we are North Pinellas’ best-kept secret,” Frezza said. “But we are out there every day working in the community.”
In addition to daily volunteer work, members also raise money to provide grants and scholarships to what Frezza terms their “partner organizations.”
“We ask people, ‘How can we come alongside you and partner with you? What can we do for you?”‘ Frezza said.
The group’s two biggest fundraising activities include working a concession stand at the upcoming Valspar Championship Golf Tournament March 13-19 and presenting the annual “Christmas Under the Oaks” arts and crafts festival held in November at St. Petersburg College Clearwater Campus.
Between the two events, the club raises nearly $40,000, which it then donates back to organizations and individuals.
Each year, the president chooses a project for the group to focus on. Frezza has chosen the mission of “Hope for Every Child’.
“My president’s project focuses on helping to provide children with the comforts of a roof over their head, a bed to sleep in, food in their stomachs, clothes and shoes, books and education,” she said. “Children have little control of these fundamental provisions, but with our assistance and support we may impact their lives through each act of kindness.”
Some of the ways the club is helping to fulfill this goal is by stuffing backpacks of food for children in need to take home over the weekend, reading to children at schools, and working with teens aging out of foster care by providing life skills training.
In addition to being a service organization, North Pinellas Woman’s Club is also a social group. In addition to the monthly meetings, members get together for a book club, dining out together and hosting meals in different women’s homes, among other activities.
The GWFC North Pinellas Woman’s Club meets on the third Tuesday of every month at Heritage United Methodist Church, 2680 Landmark Drive, Clearwater. For more information on becoming involved with the club, call 727-238-5702, or visit www.gfwcnpw.org.