Board installation for the Riverview Woman’s Club preceded the recognition of scholarship recipients at the Sweet Water Club at Sweet Water Grand The Bridges.
In an interview at the June 19 luncheon in Riverview, co-founders Jeanne Burkeson and Donna Lee Fore remembered the club’s start 12 years ago as they celebrated its growth with more than 65 members, including a growing number of male members.
Back in the day, “I called the Riverview Chamber to ask if anyone had mentioned that they wanted to start a woman’s club, and they referred me to Donna,” Burkeson said. The idea, she added, was to support education, raise money for scholarships and invite nonprofits to showcase their missions.
Moreover, “it’s good fellowship,” Burkeson said. “You get to meet people all the time.”
The board installation featured Michelle Mosher, of Southshore Insurance Professionals, stepping in as president, charged with the expectation “to be gracious, considerate and willing to listen, all while guiding.” She replaces immediate past Chair Dawn Myers, of Myers Law P.A.
The first and second vice presidents are Kimberly Payne (Preservation First Capital) and Melissa Canfield (Grease Monkey). The secretary is Mary Lee Walker (Nonprofit Gladiator). The treasurer is Jennifer King (Jenn King Bookkeeping). Jill Jofko steps off the board as immediate past chair. Fore steps down as treasurer and joins directors Ashley Falvey, Lisa Johnson, Lynn Langowski and Lisa Tackus.
According to Fore, the club and foundation over the past 12 years raised well over $60,000 for scholarships to students with a Riverview address. Also qualified are the children or grandchildren of club members.
The club raises money for scholarships through fundraisers and the Riverview Woman’s Club Foundation, a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization. Serving on the three-member board are Burkeson (president), Fore (vice president) and Kitty Cunningham (secretary).
Six club scholarships at $1,000 apiece were presented on June 19. Another two scholarships were funded by individual club members.
Fore, of PF Auto Glass, funded a $1,000 scholarship with Jennifer Hart, of Impact Taekwondo. Larry Brooks, the club’s first male member and a reverse mortgage specialist at A & A Mortgage Funding, issued the second $1,000 scholarship. He has been funding needs-based scholarships for East Bay High School students for 13 years.
This year’s club scholarship recipients are Alyssa Wheeldon (East Bay High), Kourtnee Gray (Lennard High), Sean Falvey and Alisha Parshad (Riverview High) and Denver Codner and Sophia Garcia Lilo (Sumner High). The Larry Brooks Scholarship recipient is East Bay’s Omaris Ruiz-Rivera. Riverview’s Angel Montejo received the Fore and Hart scholarship.
Also at the luncheon, three $1,000 scholarships were presented by the Central Hillsborough County Chamber of Commerce, formerly known as the Greater Riverview Chamber of Commerce, in memory of Dr. Earl J. Lennard.
“He was a great man and a caring man,” Fore said, “and his heart was in education.”
This year’s Lennard scholarship recipients are David Frazier (Lennard High), Anais Degnan (Riverview High) and Valerie Dominguez (Sumner High).
The Riverview Woman’s Club meets on the third Wednesday of the month. For more information, visit www.riverviewwomansclub.org.
