Franks For Funds Lunch Raises Money For Dundee Public Library
by James Coulter
Mary Ann Podbielski has been working at the Dundee Public Library as a storyteller and volunteer for the past 11 years, and she has been volunteering with the Friends of The Library Dundee Florida Incorporated for the past eight years.
Podbielski loves the library, and she loves the children there, which is why she works alongside three other volunteers at Friends of the Library to raise funds as to help keep the library going.
“I love working with the little kids,” she said. “Our big feature is raising funds for the reading program. We try to help the library also by raising funds for books and furniture. But we are mostly involved with the children within the community.”
Recently, Podbielski and her fellow volunteers at Friends of The Library helped raise money for the library by selling hot dog meals during their inagural Franks For Funds Lunch at the Dundee Community Center on Thursday.
From 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., the prepared luncheon meals with hot dogs, chips, soft drinks, and homemade chili and cookies and sold them to potential customers who entered the community center, all for the price of $8 each.
Throughout the day during the lunch, they even offered deliveries to different people and businesses who ordered them within the local community. The delivered to various city workers from the town and library, and even delivered more than 30 lunches to employees at Mr. Landscape and Maxi Jet.
Helping with the turnout that day were several local seniors and volunteers from the Catholic Charities, many of whom regularly help with the Friends of The Library and their events.
“We did not do as much as we wanted to do, we always want to do more, but this is our first year for this event,” Podbielski said. “We have done pretty well.”
Friends of The Library Dundee Florida Incorporated helps to facilitate the local library, especially with its Summer Reading Program, with various fundraisers through the year, including their annual spaghetti dinner.
“We are hoping to have several events through the year,” she said. “We started out with one spaghetti dinner fundraiser, now we expand to two, and hopefully next year there will be more. We only have four members, so we have a lot on our plates.”
Friends of The Library Dundee Incorporated is a registered 501C-3 charity within the state of Florida. For more information, visit their website at: https://friendsofthelibrarydundee.wordpress.com/about
