Stevens is extremely active in Plant City groups and civic clubs.
Any dictionary entry for “time management” should run with a picture of Jodi Stevens.
Chalk it up to a longtime love of community service (and sometimes finding it hard to say “no”). If there’s a major event going on in Plant City, Stevens’ fingerprints are probably on it.
“I love doing stuff for this community,” she said. “I believe in this community 110%. I’m thrilled that I’m raising my family here. It is a great community and I think that any time I can help, even if it’s just a little bit here and there, it makes me feel like I’m doing something in a positive way.
The list of Plant City groups Stevens has been involved with in one way or another might be longer than the list of groups she hasn’t joined yet. She’s currently serving as president of Plant City’s Noon Rotary Club — the first woman to do so — and treasurer for the East Hillsborough Law Enforcement Appreciation Association, as well as co-chair for Pig Jam and of ambassadors with the Florida Strawberry Festival, as president of the PTA for her daughter’s school and a team mom for her son’s baseball team.
In the past, Stevens has been president of the Lions Club, Junior Woman’s Club and the Plant City chapter of the American Business Women’s Association. She’s served on the board of directors for the Plant City Family YMCA and the American Cancer Society branch in Tampa. She’s served on the Relay for Life Plant City committee and was named the honorary survivor last year after beating breast cancer.
“Each one means something to me and has grown me as a person in one way or another,” Stevens said. “It was an honor to be the honorary chair for Relay for Life. I never wanted to have cancer, obviously, but I got it. You deal with it and you move forward and I got over that obstacle. I used to tell people it was ‘my little adventure.’ When life hands you certain cards, you’ve just got to play them and go on to the next hand.”
Stevens is not a native of Plant City, having moved to the area when she was a high school sophomore. She said she knew she wanted to stay here when she got to know the area and learned how friendly the people are and that’s driven her to do whatever she can to help the community.
She started getting involved when Johnnie Byrd, who was then working in Tallahassee at the state House of Representatives, hired her to be his “eyes and ears” in Plant City. Stevens attended meetings and events and got to know many people in many different groups, and enjoyed it so much she increased her local activism after leaving Byrd’s staff.
Her life has been a balancing act. How does one find the time to raise two kids, work a full-time job, participate in several civic groups at once and fight cancer, all without developing a coffee addiction? Stevens says keeping a to-do list and being “just OCD enough” to see it through to completion every day gets the job done.
Stevens’ dream is for her kids to grow up and one day have the same passion for their community as she does. If they stay in town, she’ll likely be right there with them volunteering her time to groups that need it.
“I have that in me,” Stevens said, “that drive that I want to help and do good.”
