Each Leadership Pasco class is responsible for organizing a Class Project that will make a positive impact on our community. Your challenge is to create a Class Project that brings charitable people and resources together to address a particular social, educational, economic, environmental or cultural need in Pasco County. The following guidelines will assist your class in setting up your class project.

Your project Plan of Action must be submitted to the Board of Directors by the January Board of Director’s meeting, via your Class President or Vice President. The Board’s approval is needed to ensure it is completed timely and does not conflict with present projects and goals of Leadership Pasco. In addition, a detailed monthly written report to the Board will be expected.

The Class Project must be completed prior to graduation in May. The Leadership Pasco Board of Directors will not assume responsibility for any projects created by the current Class.

All resources required for the project are the responsibility of class members

Previous classes have funded their projects by organizing fundraisers and securing community grants.

Any funds raised beyond the needs of the designated project will be deposited in the Leadership Pasco, Inc. operating budget to help offset program costs.

Presenting Your Class Project for Approval

Carla Armstrong, Class of 2014, may be contacted for advice on how to plan and present your Class Project case statement to the Board of Directors. Contact her at: Carla Armstrong Carla.Armstrong@ghppc.org or 727-992-7941.

Grants from the Community Foundation of Tampa Bay

The Community Foundation of Tampa Bay in 2002 initiated a pilot program to focus on grants to align with specific community service strategic goals. The Foundation has created the Philanthropy In Action grant which has committed up to $2,000 ANNUALLY for Leadership Pasco depending on the class project. On the following pages you will find an explanation of the Philanthropy In Action grant and a copy of the grant application.

Swift decisions regarding your project and its funding needs are required in order to apply for this grant AND receive the funding PRIOR to graduation from Leadership Pasco. It is recommended that you apply for the grant NO LATER than the end January in your class calendar year.

For grant application information at the Foundation – contact Ann Berg, VP of Grants, Community Foundation of Tampa Bay, aberg@cftampabay.org or 813-282-1975 x 104. www.cftampabay.org

For local support, contact Leadership Pasco board member Evie Parks at HPH Hospice 6801 Rowan Rd, New Port Richey, 34652 – evieparksemail@yahoo.com or 727-808-3801.

Past Projects

2024 – The class fundraiser at Tampa Bay Clays helped them to exceed their fundraising goal, netting $37,500 which allowed them to support three Pasco nonprofits:
$30,000 to Metropolitan Ministries Pasco CREATE program
$5,000 to Premier Community HealthCare for their New Port Richey location
$2,500 to NAMI Pasco for the Mental Health Trail in Starkey Park
They enjoyed spending their Sweat Equity Day at Metropolitan Ministries Pasco prepping summer camp kits for the children who live on site and they painted a children’s classroom and a large dollhouse.
Fundraiser: Clays for Community

2023 – The class fundraiser, Clays for Sunrise raised $23,034 for Sunrise of Pasco County a domestic violence shelter in our community. Sunrise is a shelter that houses 40 survivors and offers outreach, counseling, legal advocacy, economic empowerment services. The organization has been proving services since 1982. For the first time, a new pet-friendly space will be built at Sunrise thanks to the class project and other fundraising. The class sweat equity project was for Habitat for Humanity of West Pasco and Pinellas. The class did some primer painting at the affordable housing build on E. Martin Luther King Jr Drive in Tarpon Springs and has scheduled another project on Maine Avenue in Dade City. 
Fundraiser: Clays for Sunrise

2022 – The class raised $35,378 for the Girl Scouts of West Central Florida. The agency serves over 16,000 girls in grades K-12 in Citrus, Hernando, Hillsborough, Marion, Pasco, Pinellas, Polk, and Sumter counties. The class supported the renovation of the kitchen in their Log Cabin Lodge at Girl Scout Camp Indian Echo. Much of the infrastructure of this kitchen was original to the building. Thousands of Girl Scouts visit Camp Indian Echo every year, and volunteers and staff utilize this Log Cabin Lodge kitchen to prepare meals for girls visiting the property. The class participated in a tear down as their sweat equity project and raised over double the amount needed for the project.
Fundraiser: Clays for Community

2020 – The class raised $20,000 to assist Suncoast Voices for Children: They helped to renovate the intake room at the Pasco Sheriff’s Office on Little Road; the Child Protection Division. The room was re-designed and a shower was added. They also helped with deliveries of diapers and other physical donations from Pinellas to Pasco.
Fundraiser: Grass Roots Campaign

2019 – The class raised over $30,000 to assist two local non-profits: The class was able to paint the interior of the Sunrise of Pasco County facility, and to make exterior improvements and beautification changes for A.F.I.R.E.
Fundraiser: Taste of Pasco

2018 – The class raised $15,000 to assist two local non-profits: Renovating the Community Outreach Center and Community Meeting Facility by replacing the carpets and sprucing up the facilities of Metropolitan Ministries.
Fundraiser: Taste of Pasco

2017 – The class raised $27,749 to assist two local non-profits: Sunrise of Pasco County (gazebo/garden/patio and path for residents, security systems, and bed bug system), The Runaway Alternatives Project (RAP) House (monetary donation), and The Pasco Sheriff’s Family Support Network (monetary donation)
Fundraiser: Taste of Pasco

2016 – The class raised $23,000 to assist three local non-profits: Pasco Kids First (Furniture and Fixtures), PACE Center for Girls (Setup new Furniture), and The Angelus (House Painting).
Fundraiser: Taste of Pasco

2015 – The class raised $40,000 to assist four local non-profits and Leadership Pasco future students: Salvation Army DVS Storage Shed, Metropolitan Ministries’ Housing Projects, Student Survival Computer Lab, and (2) LP Scholarships for next class.
Fundraiser: Taste of Pasco

2014 – The class raised nearly $35,000 to assist three local non-profits: West Pasco Pregnancy Center, Youth & Family Alternatives/RAP House and Pasco County Sheriff’s K-9 Unit. Net funds raised included donations of nearly $30,000 in cash and $5,000 of in-kind products.
Fundraiser: Taste of Pasco

2013 – The class raised more than $20,000 for NAMI Pasco. $17,000 was raised during Taste of Pasco and another $5000 was matched by a grant through the United Way of Pasco.
Fundraiser: Taste of Pasco event, Grant.

2012 – The class raised over $22,000 and was used to help stock the mobile medical unit full of the necessary supplies needed to serve the homeless.
Fundraiser: Taste of Pasco event.

2011 – The 37 member class raised money to build a 1,186 square-foot K-9 Kennel on the Pasco County jail property in Land O’ Lakes, next to the new helicopter hangar. The building will provide short-term shelter and basic amenities for the dogs and their handlers, as well as training space that will be used by law enforcement agencies countywide.
Fundraiser: Sponsorships, Engraved brick pavers, Taste of Pasco event, individual donations.

2010 – The 34 member class created the Hygiene for Humanity Project. The class set their expectations high and their goal was to raise $44,000 for two, commercially manufactured three-and-a-half-ton mobile shower trailers with self-contained utilities for The Coalition for the Homeless of Pasco. Pasco County Leaders had just unveiled their 10-year plan to end homelessness in Pasco County. This project recognized one of the biggest needs. People need jobs and it's hard to get one if you don't have a place to get cleaned up. These showers will help children; women and men of all ages maintain their dignity and their health.
Fundraiser: Duck Race, Sponsorships, individual donations.

2009 – Transportation Project: The 25 member class goal was to raise $5,000 to put toward a travel van for the Center for Independence to transport disabled adults throughout Pasco County.
Fundraiser: Class sold meal-tickets for the Taste-of-Pasco event, secured business and non-profit sponsorships.

2008 – The 35-member class created a paved fantasyland at the Angelus complex in Hudson for cerebral palsy victims.

2007 – Class landscaped and painted the new Healthy Families building in Hudson.

2006 – The class raised $20,000 for the missing and abducted children command center.

2005 – The class built a playground in a poor area of Dade City known as Tommytown.

The Board of Directors would like to thank your class, in advance, for your leadership and creativity, and wish you the best of experiences as your carry out a project that will improve the quality of life in Pasco County.