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Local Women Recognized For Community Services

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By PAUL CATALA

The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 25, 2009

One served four years as a Hillsborough County commissioner and has accumulated numerous awards for philanthropic efforts for organizations serving all walks of life. Another was orphaned as a child and lost a husband as a young woman, but still went on to success in her personal life as well as in her efforts to make her community a better place.

These Sun City Center residents were just two of the four Tampa Bay-area women recognized by the American Association of University Women Sun City Center Branch (AAUW) as "Women of Distinction" for their contributions to their professions and their communities.

The Sun City Center 2009 Women of Distinction recipients were Joshua House co-founder Dottie Berger-MacKinnon and the former manager of the Nearly New Shop thrift store, Dorothy Rich. They joined Brandon's Lana Cain Krauter, president of Bealls Department Stores Inc., and Tampa's Stacie Schaible, news anchor for WFLA-TV channel 8, on the stage during the ceremony.

During the seventh-annual awards luncheon Feb. 10 in the Community Hall, about 290 attendees - mostly women, with a few male spouses and invited guests - gathered for lunch, to see the awards being presented and hear the winners give thanks, briefly talking about their backgrounds.

Proceeds went to the AAUW's Mature Women Scholarships, given to women who are out of high school or may have families to use towards college or university.

AAUW Sun City Center treasurer Carolyn Wight, said that last year, about $3,500 in scholarship money was divided among six women. She said this year, about $3,000 was raised for scholarships.

AAUW Sun City Center Women of Distinction selection committee chairwoman Marsha Fader said the four winners were selected from a pool of about 10 candidates and chosen by a vote by 10 AAUW selection committee members.

Berger-MacKinnon, who serves on the board of trustees for Tampa General Hospital and the board of directors for the Florida Health Sciences center, recently began Kids Charity of Tampa Bay to raise money for needy children. She is also a founding member of the Friends of Joshua House Foundation, supporting the Joshua House, a safe haven for abused, neglected and abandoned children and helped the group establish a $1.2-million endowment through the Community Foundation of Tampa Bay.

Berger-MacKinnon said she was proud of the recognition and happy the proceeds from the event would go on to help women further their educations.

Following an acceptance speech by Schaible, noted for her work for channel 8 news' "Eight On Your Side "consumer problem segments, Rich read a short autobiography of herself and her life as an orphan in Minnesota. After experiences in the retail, secretarial and modeling fields, she moved to Tampa in 1968 and Sun City Center in 1984. She took over the Nearly New Shop in Wimauma and was instrumental in moving it to Sun City Center, where proceeds from sales go to the area's Interfaith Council, representing all area faiths to support charities.

Cyrille Cobe, AAUW Sun City Center member, said beyond the plaques and the accolades, the real relevance of the Women of Distinction awards luncheon was the chance to help women and their education.

"This kind of scholarship allows women to pursue a career rather than having to just work in a service industry," she said. "They can work and actively pursue academic studies at the same time."

Reporter Paul Catala can be reached at (813) 865-1554 or pcatala@mediageneral.com.

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