Sunrise of Pasco County
PODS Championship

On March 7, the PGA TOUR Wives Association and PODS Championship hosted a luncheon to benefit Sunrise of Pasco County, a domestic violence and rape crisis center. “This is a charity near and dear to my heart,” said Julie Petrovic, who helped organize the event. “This is where my girls and I volunteer when we’re home.” Sunrise runs a shelter, which houses up to 24 women and children full time and offers many programs to women, children and the community. Often, the women and children arrive at the shelter with only the clothes on their backs, so basic necessities like pajamas, soap, shampoo and undergarments in all sizes were desperately needed. Members reached deep into their personal resources and shopped from a “wish list” from Sunrise and provided many of the needed items.

Penny Morrill, CEO of Sunrise, was overwhelmed with the outpouring and generosity from the wives. “This is better than Christmas,” she said. PTWA presented Penny with a check for $1,000 to help support the services and needs of Sunrise.

“We are starting to realize more and more that even though we may move on to the next community and the next tournament, the work that we are doing is the legacy that we are leaving behind,” Julie Petrovic explained. “The dollars that we leave in a community continue to work and, hopefully, we help spotlight an area that the community will embrace and continue to work on after we’re gone.” That seemed to be the case in this situation as the Tampa Bay community, after hearing about the luncheon, responded to the need and donated money as well as “gently used”  items for the program’s thrift store. For more information about Sunrise, please visit their website at www.sunrisepasco.org.