ABOUT
MEET OUR
OUR ORGANIZATION
FOUNDERS, MEMBERS
& BOARD
Service Club of Manatee County is a united group of women whose sole purpose is to support child-ren who reside in Manatee County. Each year, Service Club raises money to help underprivileged children in Manatee County through private donations and our only fundraiser, For the Love of Children Gala. Service Club has been an active charitable organization since 1927 with our Active and Sustaining Members volunteering their time each year to make our only fundraiser a huge success.
​
Our mission is to support children who reside in Manatee County by raising and distributing funding for the benefit of those who are in need of food, shelter, clothing, health services, or educational services.
Service Club receives grant requests from local non-profit charitable organizations who are committed to improving the lives of local underprivileged children. Our Grant Program Committee thoroughly evaluates each request, personally interviews each organization, and presents their recommendations for funding to our membership for final approval. In 2024, Service Club distributed $165,000 to 35 agencies and programs serving the needs of children in Manatee County.
On March 15, 2025, Service Club held its only annual fundraising event, For the Love of Children, with the theme "Boots & Bling". This lively indoor event took place at the Manatee County Fairgrounds in Palmetto with entertainment, delicious food and dancing. There was a live and silent auction, a mission moment, and opportunities to win other exciting items.
Check out the "Get Involved" tab on our website to see how you can join us.
SERVICE CLUB'S HISTORY & FOUNDERS
In 1927, Manatee County was a small community struggling through the Florida Depression just before the Great Depression. Ballard Primary School was the only elementary school in Bradenton at that time. A group of Manatee County women noticed children coming to school without lunches and banded together to make sandwiches and cookies, which they delivered confidentially to the school for those children. These women were the founding members of Service Club of Manatee County.
In the 1940s, when the school lunch program became a part of the school system, these women focused on providing school lunch money, clothing, and shoes for the needy children throughout the community. Support for this effort soon came from the rest of the community, which gave financial support and
helped in Service Club's fundraising activities. Some of the fundraising activities were bridge parties, luncheons, rummage sales, dinners, teas, golf tournaments, fashion shows, and evenings at the movies. After World War II, the federal government assumed responsibility for the school lunch program, and Service Club looked to help local children at Children's Haven (now called The Haven), a local center for developmentally disabled children. The same generous impulses that started the lunch program were followed by an even wider concern for the welfare of needy children in matters of health. Local dentists and physicians agreed to provide dental care and eyeglasses and even tonsillectomies for children in need. In 1963, Service Club held its first Antique Show at the Bradenton Municipal Auditorium.
​
For 54 years, Service Club held an annual Charity Antiques Show. Each year approximately 40 Active Members, and many of our over 100 Sustaining Members, come together to prepare and present our event, now named For the Love of Children Gala.
MESSAGE FROM OUR PRESIDENT
Dear Friends of Service Club,
​
It is remarkable to think the Service Club of Manatee County is entering into 99 years of helping children in need in Manatee County.
​
Started in 1927 by a small group of women who identified that many children were going hungry, these women began by making sandwiches for these children to be distributed at local schools. This year in May, after distributing $183,000 to 29 local children's charities, Service Club will have given back close to $3 million in grants. Unfortunately, this need only increases year after year.
​
In May, we proudly welcomed 12 amazing new members into the club. This brings our membership to 49 wonderful ladies, working tirelessly to deliver our mission to make a difference to the children in our community.
​
We are looking forward to this coming year as we plan our March fundraiser, Boots and Bling Gala, and continue to enjoy the success of our latest venture, "Hidden Treasures Boutique."
​
I was born in lovely Scotland, met and married a wonderful American and moved to Florida in 2008. I feel fortunate to live in Manatee County where I found a community spirit I can relate to and embrace.
​
Our generous and giving sponsors and the ladies of Service Club reflect that community spirit and I am proud and honored in my eighth year of membership to be president. My goal is to build on the growth and success which has gone before me and take the Service Club of Manatee County into its 100th year.
​
My heartfelt thanks to our members and supporters.
​
Cheers to 99 Years!
​
Valerie Bell, President
Service Club of Manatee County Florida, Inc.
ACTIVE MEMBERS
Amick, Janene
Baillie, Elizabeth
Bartlett, Catherine
Bedford, Deidre
Bell, Kathy
Bell, Valerie
Bouzianne, Victoria
Cohen, Beth
Colavito, Debi
Denyes, Khris
Donaghy, Kimberly
Eurice, Carmen
Flanagan, Donna
Frame, Sally Ann
Francis, Ann
Gurucharri, Jean
Hargreaves, Kathy
​
Himelberger, Lori
Jennings, Barbara
Kidder Lori
Klein, Rebecca
Law, Sandy
Lawson, Jamie
Levins, Sandy Shahinian
Lodwick, Barbara
Marlar, Martha
Moates, Kara
Morgan, Cory
Morrill, Madeline
O'Brien, Leanne
O'Brien, Shannon
Olsen, Terry
Pierce, Elizabeth
Pierro, Cindy
Ritchie-Hubbard, Susan
Rubino, Susan​
Rutkowsky, Dale
Schneider, Courtney Choate
Scott, Jennifer
Shepard, Juliet
Shoemaker, Diana
Sisemore, Nan
Smith, Teri
Sokos, Lisa
Theiler, Leslie
Wiles, Angela
Wiles, Karen
Willats, Mary Beth
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
PAST PRESIDENTS
1927-36 Unknown
1937-38 Pearl Bispham
1938-39 Sarah Leach
1939-40 Evelyn Chaires
1940-41 Marian Green
1941-42 Lia Payne
1942-43 Stella Cox
1943-44 Bobbi King
1944-45 Doris Zoller
1945-46 Lucy Dye
1946-47 Anne Kelbert
1947-58 Unknown
1958-59 Blanche DuBois
1959-60 Sarah Leach
1960-61 Carolyn Juinkin
1961-62 Margaret Wentzel
1962-63 Unknown
1963-64 Ruth Harris
1964-65 Elizabeth Dye Diem
1965-66 Anne Quillian
1966-67 Lois Taylor
1967-68 Helen Turner Matthews
1968-69 Avalon McKenna
1969-70 Sally O'Shea
1970-71 Dorothy Horton
1971-72 Betty Burnett
1972-73 Eleanor Ganey
1973-74 Eulia Stathis
1974-75 Mary Lilla Miller
1975-76 Sheila Leach
1976-77 Elizabeth Page
1977-78 Janie Wilson
1978-79 Anne Doss
1979-80 Rachel Harrison
1980-81 Janet Grimes
1981-82 Barbara Knowles
1982-83 Mary Burnett
1983-84 Virginia McInnis
1984-85 Flavia Preston
1985-86 Jean Shelton
1986-87 Bette Jane DesChamps
1987-88 Georgette Knowles
1988-89 Barbara King
1989-90 Ginny Kinney
1990-91 Alice Trice
1991-92 Bettye Sue McCurry
1992-93 Karen Stewart
1993-94 Mary Louise Gerard-Becker
1994-95 Linda Diem
1995-96 Sherry Bellino
1996-97 Myra Choate
1997-98 Mary Stoll
1998-99 Susie Walters
1999-00 Sheila Jackson
2000-01 Mary Middlebrooks
2001-02 Doris Bassett
2002-03 Mary Beth Bustle
2003-04 Missy Eckenrod
2004-05 Jacquie Braxtan
2005-06 Janice Hamlin
2006-07 Ann Day
2007-08 G. Lee Jones
2008-09 Patsy Pomeroy
2009-10 Polly Gaar
2010-11 Connie Dolin
2011-12 Vicki Zulanas
2012-13 Marcia Wallace
2013-14 Susan Mitchell
2014-15 Eileen Hoffner
2015-16 Sandy Scroggins
2016-17 Nina Richardson
2017-18 Michele Grimes
2018-19 Krista Bloomberg
2019-20 Krista Bloomberg
2020-21 Sandy Law
2021-22. Barbara Lodwick
2022-23 Natalie Thrasher
2023-24 Jennifer Scott
2024-25 Martha Marlar
President: Valerie Bell
Vice President: Diana Shoemaker
Recording Secretary: Kathy Bell
Corresponding Secretary: Khris Denyes
Treasurer: Jean Gurucharri
Assistant Treasurer: Kathy Hargreaves
Reporter: Karen Wiles
Parliamentarian: Terry Olsen
Immediate Past: President: Martha Marlar