Rotary Club’s ‘Turkey Gobble Feast’ & The ‘Hidden Hunger’ In Wesley Chapel

By Gary Nager

As a member of the Rotary Club of Wesley Chapel (which meets Wednesdays at noon at Ciao! Italian Bistro in the Shops at Wiregrass mall), I am proud of the work our group is doing — from supporting the Sunrise of Pasco Women’s Shelter and the “Everyday Blessings” kids residence, to the group’s annual visits to Honduras, in conjunction with the Clean Water for the World organization — but I didn’t realize just how close to home one of the club’s ongoing service projects would hit me.

First, a little story backdrop. As you regular readers know, I’m originally from the part of “Lawn Guyland, New Yawk” known as the “Five Towns.” I grew up in Woodmere and graduated from George W. Hewlett High a million years ago and I spent a large part of my childhood in the Hewlett-Woodmere Public Library in the millennia before the advent of the internet.

Growing up in my half-Jewish, half-Irish-and/or-Italian “ghetto,” I had no idea that there were any homeless or hungry people where I lived. And, to be honest, there probably weren’t very many people suffering from these afflictions in my old stomping grounds back then.

So, I was stunned to find out that my Uncle Joe Kolodny, who still lives in Hewlett, was helping the local chapter of the League of Women Voters (LWV) put on a program at my beloved old library, entitled “The Hidden Hunger on Long Island,” a program I hope to have pictures from and information about on our website (WCNeighborhoodNews.com) very soon.

That program was put on in NY on Dec. 5, but at our regular Rotary meeting on Dec. 3, I was equally flabbergasted to learn that there was a group of “hidden hungry” people living in the woods off S.R. 54, near the former Racetrac gas station.

Wesley Chapel Rotary president Eric Johnson announced that on Thanksgiving Day, the day our club served hundreds of free Thanksgiving dinners to local people in need at two locations (Keystone Community Church in Lutz and Atonement Lutheran Church in Wesley Chapel, both on S.R. 54) in our annual “Turkey Gobble Thanksgiving Feast,” Eric received a call from club member Rene Van Hout telling him about the group of about eight men who were living in those woods off S.R. 54 and were likely to not show up at either of our free Thanksgiving dinner locations.

So, Rotarians being who they are and, especially, Eric being who he is, he grabbed club member Dane Parilo and Wesley Chapel Sunrise Rotary Club president Rich Heyman to help him bring about a dozen of those meals (and other snacks) to the men, who were very appreciative of those efforts. Apparently, one of the men Eric spoke to that day was later arrested for having an open beer can on a public street and another in the group was hit by a car a few days before and was still in the hospital.

Some of the men in the group have some addiction issues, but others are just victims of the local economic collapse. All of them, however, have needs with which the Rotary Club is happy to try to help. Eric has promised that our club is going to collect sleeping bags, socks and boots for the group — which has since moved to another location in the Wesley Chapel area — and anything else to keep them as protected as possible from the elements, including the regular rains and the upcoming winter cold.

So, while our club is proud to have served so many on Thanksgiving, the “Helping Hands Food Pantry” ministry at Atonement Lutheran, which provides free food for those in need every week, all year ‘round, still needs your help to keep our area’s homeless and hungry as well fed as possible this holiday season and the Rotary Club of Wesley Chapel is still accepting donations to help the men in the woods.

For more information about the Helping Hands Food Pantry at Atonement Lutheran Church (29617 S.R. 54), call 973-2211 or visit Be-At-1.org. To help the Rotary Club of Wesley Chapel provide for this group of men, email Ericjohnson@wesleychapeltoyota. com.

Happy holidays to everyone!