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St. Lucie County community group helps emergency service workers in times of need
The Hundred Club wants new members.
Individual memberships are $100 and include admission to an annual recognition banquet. This year's is 6 p.m. May 18 at the Gator Trace Country Club in Fort Pierce.
Emergency service workers may join for $50. There also are corporate memberships.
Mail tax exempt donations to the Hundred Club c/o Tammy Schwab, St. Lucie County Sheriff's Office, 4700 West Midway Road, Fort Pierce 34981-4825.
For more information call 772-462-3210.
ST. LUCIE COUNTY — Port St. Lucie Police Detective Lisa Marie Carrasquillo's routine medical procedure quickly escalated into open heart surgery and she ended up in a research hospital in Gainesville — far from her family, fearing for her life.
During September 2010, doctors at Shands at the University of Florida concluded she was among 100 known cases of tumors spreading in her veins to her heart and lungs.
"I had difficulties breathing," Carrasquillo said.
She was comforted by seeing her three children and husband: "A gift from God," she said.
Unknown to her, the family's trips to her bedside and their meals and lodging were quietly being defrayed by donations from St. Lucie County's Hundred Club — a low-key, 150-member community group that is seeking more members and contributions to help the county's emergency services workers during tragedies and medical emergencies.
"We want them (emergency workers) to know we support them" by paying some uninsured expenses such as travel or temporary child care, said Jane Rowley, club president. She joined the organization a year after its founding in 1991.
The county has an estimated 1,400 emergency service workers ranging from firefighters to law enforcement, including jail workers. Included in the total are employees of the U.S. Coast Guard, the Florida Division of Forestry and state marine patrol.
A main impetus for the club's formation were the fatal shootings of several Fort Pierce police officers. In 1991, officer Danny Parrish was shot with his own weapon during a traffic stop. In 1987, officers Grover Cooper and Jimmy Wouters were killed during a drug raid in White City.
"It was an absolutely horrendous thing for our county," said Dorothy Shaw, club vice president, who works for the Sheriff's Office. "Their families and others were grieving."
Within months of the shooting of Parrish, on Jan. 18, 1991, business and community leaders formed the Hundred Club. By then, club founders already had given $1,000 to Parrish's family.
Since then, the group has aided about 12 families throughout the county. The club's money has helped bring in family members for funerals, care for children and temporarily pay rent.
The number of people helped each year ranges from none to a few. "It just depends on the circumstances," Shaw said.
"We save the club's money for what is really needed," Rowley said. The club's current's treasury is $105,000.
There also is a Hundred Club in both Martin and Indian River counties — all modeled after the first Hundred Club that a Detroit automobile dealer set up in 1950.
Business leaders also helped found St. Lucie County's club. The club's first president and vice president were bankers Vernon Smith and Hal Roberts.
Retired St. Lucie County Sheriff R.C. "Bobby" Knowles was an early supporter of the club in St. Lucie County.
"Law enforcement officers and firefighters are not the most well-paid people," Knowles said, noting tragedies or medical emergencies can put a financial strain on their families.
"It is a good feeling to know that there is an organization like this out there, but you hope you never have to use it," Knowles said. "It lets officers know that there are people in the community who really do care for them."
Most members have a link to emergency workers, Rowley said. One of her sons is a fire chief with Palm Beach County Fire Rescue. Her husband is a retired New York firefighter.
In Carrasquillo's case, "They (the club) came through for us."
Doctors were able to treat her condition, intravenous leiomyomatoris, which could have been fatal, Carrasquillo said. She is back in Port St. Lucie.
But as she was being treated, "I thanked God for their (the club's) services," Carrasquillo said. "My family was able to stay by my side."
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