The Kiwanis Club hosted the 66th Annual Outstanding Citizen of the Year Award Luncheon on Wednesday at the Florida Strawberry Festival TECO Expo Hall. Beginning in 1960, the award has been presented by the combined civic clubs to express their appreciation to tremendous citizens for the unselfish giving of their time, talents, and resources for the betterment of the community and the benefit of all.
Plant City’s Outstanding Citizen of the Year Committee chose Karen Crumley as the recipient of the award this year. Civic organizations in the community submit nominees to the committee, and the GFWC Woman’s Club of Plant City nominated her.
Crumley has lived in Plant City since 1971. She founded and leads Feeding Plant City, an organization dedicated to alleviating hunger and ensuring that every person in the area has access to nutritious food. For Crumley’s work with Feeding Plant City, in July 2024, the George H. W. Bush Daily Point of Light Award selected her as an honoree. City Commissioners followed by recognizing her with a proclamation that stated, “Through her leadership, Feeding Plant City has not only provided essential meals but has also fostered a spirit of unity, compassion, and resilience among community members; and has consistently exemplified the spirit of selflessness, generosity, and unwavering commitment through her tireless volunteer work.”
In a drive to provide food for those in need, Crumley also delivers lunches to home-bound people every week for Meals on Wheels of Plant City. In addition, she spends several days each month picking up soon-to-expire-food from local groceries and restaurants, then delivering it to local churches. Crumley has taken the initiative to deliver food to carless households several days a week, the local children’s home, low-income areas in Plant City, the Planteen Center, Knights Elementary School, and shelters.
Crumley joined the GFWC Woman’s Club eight years ago, and has taken roles as chairperson and overseeing membership. She helps coordinate the club’s Thanksgiving and Christmas food drives, and delivers turkeys and food boxes to 15 low income households. She has led the Woman’s Club annual food drive for United Food Bank of Plant City. She also sells tickets and plates food for the annual BBQ dinner.
Reflecting this passion for making sure people have food, in the past, Crumley also volunteered for 12 years with the Feeding Tampa Bay Mobile Food Pantry.
Outside of all of this effort to feed people, somehow Crumley has found time and energy to do more civic good. This is a partial list of the numerous ways she serves the community:
• Oversees the Lion’s Club Leo Program with area high schools to engage students to give volunteer hours that will help earn them Bright Futures Scholarships. She is the Guiding Lion for the University of South Florida, and has been in the Lions club for 11 years.
• Coordinated 400 volunteers, and procured sponsors for supplies to paint nine houses for the Kind Helping the Blind Paint Houses Project.
• Florida Strawberry Festival Fine art Show Chairman for many years, and to date.
• Volunteered as a Plant City Chamber of Commerce Ambassador to represent the Chamber at community events.
• Coordinated several teams for CareFest USA.
• Volunteered for the Cancer Pink Heroes Walk, and the Relay for Life.
• Joined the Environmental Watershed Project to clear areas along headwaters in Plant City.
• Served with the Feed-A-Bee Project, which planted 20,000 wildflower seeds in the area.
• Volunteers and coordinates Hillsborough 100 Conservation annual projects.
The GFWC Woman’s Club nomination letter stated, “Karen’s work and impact in our community is so extensive and so grand, I am sure we are missing many of the things she does every day in order to help others. I have learned that wherever there’s a need, she will be there to fill the void and make things happen. Karen is positive, energetic, consistent, kind and very generous, but there is one more thing that impresses us a lot about her—she is great at bringing the different groups and organizations to work together for a cause.”
Karen has been married for 44 years to her husband, Dewey, and she has two sons, 11 grandchildren, and one great grandchild.
“It is so nice to be honored with this recognition,” Crumley said from the podium. “It is so unexpected. I try to do things under the radar to just do it for our community….But I always want to instill in our youth the importance of volunteering and giving back to the community….I think that is our future, and the more you can instill with them the kindness of giving back, the better our society will be….Thank you so much for this honor.”