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Fundraiser Aids LifeCare

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By D'ANN LAWRENCE WHITE

dlwhite@tampatrib.com

Published: March 18, 2009

BRANDON - The lighthearted atmosphere is deceiving.

While women decorate tables with heirloom tea services and china and spend the morning socializing, sipping tea and nibbling scones lathered with Devonshire cream, the motives behind the tea party are anything but frivolous.

They are raising funds to help hundreds of mothers in the Brandon area face the challenge of unplanned pregnancies.

LifeCare of Brandon, formerly the Brandon Care Pregnancy Center, will host its annual Spring Tea Fundraiser from 10 a.m. to noon March 28 at the Special Events Center at Bell Shoals Baptist Church, 2102 Bell Shoals Road, Brandon.

The event, which attracts more than 350 women each year, is one of the nondenominational nonprofit organization's largest fundraisers.

In addition to tea and tidbits, the event features entertainment and testimony by clients from LifeCare of Brandon, which for more than 22 years has offered free pregnancy tests and counseling to women facing unplanned pregnancies at a tiny house at 122 N. Moon Ave., Brandon.
Spring Tea committee member Jodi Chadwell said this year the ladies can look forward to tea provided by Lynn Davis, owner of The Tea Cup tea room at 3013 Folklore Drive in Valrico. On the menu will be chicken salad on croissants, tarts and chocolate cakes, as well as the traditional scones and cream.

"The testimonies from the girls at the center are always inspiring," Chadwell said. "And it will be interesting to see how everyone decorates their tables this year. We even have the Faith Riders motorcycle club from Bell Shoals Baptist Church doing a table this year."

Soloist Liz Brewer of Brandon and an ensemble from Bell Shoals Baptist will provide music.

The special events center is large enough to accommodate 55 tables of eight. This year there will be a door prize for each table, Chadwell said.

LifeCare of Brandon offers classes and support so teens and women with unplanned pregnancies can decide whether adoption, abortion or keeping the child is the best decision for them.

The organization changed its name last year to reflect its expanding scope of services. Over the years, the center has added adoption support, post-abortion counseling, abstinence education and parenting classes.

It has a boutique for moms and babies, Bible study meetings, a self-esteem class for women, classes for fathers, medical referral services, classes that prepare parents to discuss sex with teens and a support group for high school students who have chosen to abstain from drugs, alcohol, tobacco and premarital sex.

About 300 women walk through the center's doors each month, according to executive director Cookie Gray. Since it opened its doors in 1987, the center has served more than 45,000 people.

The cost of the tea is $25 per person or $200 for a table of eight. Contact Karen Brooks at (813) 654-0491 or karen@life careofbrandon.com.

Reporter D'Ann Lawrence White can be reached at (813) 657-4524.

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