Weather | Sports | Forums | Comics | Classifieds | Calendar | Movies

Community helps out on home front

People are pitching in to give families left behind by deployed troops somewhere to turn for everyday problems.

It may sound like small stuff - fixing a blown fuse, repairing a leaky faucet, replacing a light bulb in an out-of-reach fixture - but they can become perplexing chores when the handyman of the house is gone.

This week's deployment of the local National Guard unit left about 50 Pasco families without the husbands and fathers who often handle those household tasks. (No women were among those deployed.)

The Guardsmen in Battery B, 2nd Battalion, 116th Field Artillery, are training in Mississippi before heading off to Afghanistan in July. And while those soldiers are away for the next 18 to 20 months, community leaders want to make sure the families are in good hands.

The Dade City Rotary Club is working with county officials to create a Web site that would put Pasco military families in touch with contractors who will help for little or no charge. The site could be launched in the next few weeks.

"When a wife or a fiancee or a mother calls their loved one in Afghanistan, the last thing they need to hear about is the roof that's got a leak, or the plumbing that needs to be repaired, or the car that needs to be fixed," said County Commissioner Ted Schrader, a leader of the effort. "They need to talk to them about family issues that are pleasant so the soldier is not worried that the daily household activities are a burden on the family members."

After discussing it with fellow Dade City Rotary members Monday, Schrader brought up the idea at Tuesday's County Commission meeting. Commissioner Steve Simon, a computer whiz, offered to create a Web site and host it for free.

"I don't think there's much by way of high dollar (jobs that are) going to be asked for," Simon said. "I think the majority of the help would be, "Could you just please help me because I can't do it?' And wouldn't it be nice for them to have someone to lean on?"

The Dade City Rotary Club is compiling a list of reliable contractors, member John Finnerty said.

The club also plans to use the profits from this year's Fourth of July "Sparklebration" event to help National Guard families with other expenses, such as car repairs, he said.

The group plans to ask other local Rotary clubs and businesses to contribute to the fund.

"We're going to do what we can to make sure it's okay for these families, and that husbands don't have to worry about what's going on at home when they're in Afghanistan," said Finnerty, a retired Army command sergeant major who served in Operation Desert Strom.

The National Guard has Family Centers that provide all kinds of support, including referrals to "military friendly" contractors and get-togethers with other families.

Cyndi Maners, a support specialist at the Polk County Family Center, which serves some east Pasco families, applauded the community's efforts.

"The more help we can get, the better," she said.

Bridget Hall Grumet can be reached in west Pasco at 869-6244 or toll-free at 1-800-333-7505, ext. 6244. Her e-mail address is bhall@sptimes.com

TO DONATE: Call John Finnerty, executive director of East Pasco Habitat for Humanity, at (352) 567-1444. Donations to support the National Guard families may be sent to the Dade City Rotary Club, P.O. Box 44, Dade City, FL 33526.