Don’t forget about these charitable organizations in the Plant City area when making your list this year.
Second Chance Boxer Rescue
Located in Plant City, Second Chance Boxer Rescue takes in-state animals, rehabilitates them and adopts them out to loving families in Hillsborough, Polk, Pasco, Citrus, Marion, Pinellas, Manatee and Sarasota counties.
In the beginning, the nonprofit only rescued boxers, but later started Second Chance Friends for other companions.
The name Second Chance doesn’t mean a second chance for the dogs, but one for humans to provide a safe and healthy home for the dogs, since most of the dogs that come to the rescue have been abused or neglected by their owners.
WEBSITE: SaveABoxer.org
CONTACT: info@saveaboxer.org
Friends in the Park
Friends in the Park has become a community project of over 10 organizations and countless volunteers to feed the homeless or those in need in Plant City.
Seven days a week, these big-hearted volunteers gather at the Winter Visitor Center, west of Historic Downtown, to serve meals and drinks. Other volunteers prepare the food and bring clothing and other supplies to the dinners. On any given day there can be as many as forty people fed.
Unity in the Community made a monetary donation to the City of Plant City this year to move Friends in the Park from Veterans’ Memorial Monument Park to the Winter Visitor Center to provide an air-conditioned space out of the rain for patrons.
FACEBOOK: Facebook.com/ ParkFriendsPlantCity
CONTACT: Private message Barbara on the Friends in the Park Facebook page
Learn Tampa Bay
Learn Tampa Bay offers tutoring services to parents and students in the Plant City area. Its primary patrons are those who speak English as a second language or are from migrant families.
Students get homework help from volunteers and teachers, learn math skills on the computer, and have access to fiction and nonfiction books and workbooks. Parents learn English and other life management skills.
The nonprofit is located east of Historic Downtown and is open five days a week to offer its services. It is part of a network of Family Literacy Academies funded and supported by the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy.
WEBSITE: TampaBayLiteracy.org
CONTACT: Angelica Ibarra, (813) 752-4010
PC Entertainment
Plant City Entertainment Inc. is the community theater in the Winter Strawberry Capital of the World.
Besides providing shows and arts for its residents, Plant City Entertainment is also a training ground for many young people who have gone on to theater-related professions.
In 2009, with the membership continuing to grow and after years of renting various venues around Plant City for performances, Plant City Entertainment was able to secure its own building in Historic Downtown.
But the building is in need of repairs and the nonprofit is in the process of paying off its mortgage. Direct donations will help, but so can attendance to one of its many productions.
WEBSITE: PCEShows.com
CONTACT: President Marsha Passmore, mappmore@msn.com