TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

She's the leader of the backpacks

Tribune photo by JAMIE PILARCZYK

Wanda Howard looks through one of the book bags collected for last year’s event. Filled with school supplies, Howard donates the bags children in the Port Tampa community.

ADVERTISEMENT

By JAMIE PILARCZYK

jpilarczyk@tampatrib.com

Published: July 8, 2009

PORT TAMPA - Weeks before kids begin preparing for the first day of school, Wanda Howard's living room starts filling with backpacks.

For the last three years she and a handful of volunteers have collected new backpacks and school supplies for children in the Port Tampa community and hosted a Back to School party at the Kwane Doster Community Center. The first year they handed out a little more than 100 bags. The second year the tally was 243.

This year, on Aug. 8, she is shooting for 400.

"If everyone donated just $1, we could do it," Howard said. "It all starts with just a dream and a prayer."

Howard started the service as a member of Mt. Zion A.M.E. Church, 7401 Kissimmee St. in Port Tampa, in 1997 when she organized an outreach ministry that involved giving Friday dinners to those in need, Thanksgiving baskets to elderly people and military families, and book bags to the kids in the church. While the program did grow over the decade, it wasn't until 2007 that Howard was asked to take it to another level.

"I've always believed that unto whom much is given, much is required," she said. "That is our mission statement."

Howard connected with Tampa's Parks and Recreation Department, area businesses and local organizations, including the Port Tampa Women's Club, of which she is a member. A cookout was planned and a health fair coordinated to give the children not only new school supplies but also a fresh start for the new academic year.

When shoulder surgery in October 2008 gave her time to contemplate her life, she said she felt a calling to grow the ministry beyond the church. In April, Howard formed the nonprofit Today's Blessings Ministry with her husband, Ron. Her vision is to have, one day, a full youth center with job training.

"When you get started, your heart starts to beat and you just know it's going to happen," she says. "We could really help this community."

Howard and her husband are both 61. Wanda is retired; Ron works for AAA. They have five children and six grandchildren whose faces are in picture frames scattered throughout their Port Tampa home.

She said Today's Blessings Ministry will continue to donate holiday food baskets, and the group is seeking support to keep growing the Back to School party. Donations have been slow coming in this year, she said, but the need is even greater. The effort serves students at West Shore and Lanier elementary schools, Monroe Middle and Robinson High.

"Each year we'd like to add a project or maybe two, something we can do within the community," Howard said. "Our children need help and our teenagers need jobs. There is a lot of growth in Port Tampa. You can put a new home up on every street but it you don't help the children, who will build the next house?"

Dreaming big in a tight economy, Howard said, she has learned great things can happen when you step out on faith.

"What worries me is there is an even bigger need this year," Howard said. "But you just trust in God and you know it's going to work out."

IF YOU GO

WHAT: Back to School party

WHERE: Kwane Doster Community Center, 7506 S. Morton St.

WHEN: 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Aug. 8

CONTACT: To donate, volunteer or attend, contact Wanda Howard at Today's Blessings Ministry, (813) 453-5601 or e-mail todaysblessingsministry@veri zon.net.

Reporter Jamie Pilarczyk can be reached at (813) 259-7661.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT