Tampa Bay Area Charity Coalition helps local nonprofits accomplish their goals by facilitating interaction and coordination.

For five years, Charity Coalition meetings have helped key players in the Tampa Bay nonprofit community make the greatest possible impact on social and community issues. Community leaders exchange information, ideas and common concerns, network, collaborate, share resources and review the progress they have made. The Church of Scientology hosts these bi-monthly meetings at the Fort Harrison in downtown Clearwater and provides complimentary luncheon prepared by the Fort Harrison’s award-winning chefs.

This month’s luncheon will focus on how nonprofits can best organize their time and motivate their supporters to work together on reaching end-of-year goals.  

“Whether they feed the hungry, tutor kids or provide shelter for those in need, these charities should be supported to reach as many people as they can,” said Clemence Chevrot, Community Affairs Director for the Church of Scientology in Clearwater. “We support this because it’s all about service to the community. It aligns exactly with our own purpose, as expressed by Scientology Founder L. Ron Hubbard, who wrote: ‘What is important is how much service you can give the world and how much you can get done and how much better you can make things. These are important things. These are all that are important.’”

Nonprofits attending these luncheons address a wide range of issues, from helping at-risk youth to improving environmental problems, promoting cultural and ethnic diversity and helping victims of human trafficking. These include the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Police Athletic League; the Butterfly Effect of Golf, which provides after-school programs in Hillsborough and Pinellas Counties; My Hope Chest, which helps fund reconstructive surgery for uninsured and underinsured breast cancer survivors; and the PACE Center for Girls, which offers academic and social services for girls ages 11 to 18.

“I have been attending the networking luncheons for three years and love them,” said Sonia Goncalves of Global Community Tennis, which empowers at-risk youths to make better decisions and healthier choices. “There is such a variety of groups to make new contacts with at each meeting. The best is that all of the attendees are running a charity or volunteering and are all about helping the community.”

For more information on the coalition or for information on how to establish a charity coalition in your community, contact Clemence Chevrot (727) 467-6860.