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The Myrna Munroe Foundation
Posted on: 2005-02-07
I was having a quiet breakfast with my just-turned-six-years-old daughter, Sonnie, this morning when she said, as she often has, “I miss Grandma.” “I do too, honey” I replied. After a moment she continues. “It’s just that I still had so much to say!” Before I had a chance to respond, the quiet is broken by a rousing rendition of “Happy Birthday” by the restaurant staff- Sonnie’s third this week.
My mother, Myrna Munroe, a long time Vina resident, passed away unexpectedly this past May. The shock and grief that we, her family, experienced was punctuated by the thought that Sonnie expressed this very morning. Namely, that there was so much left to say. Not just TO her, but BY her.
Born in 1937 to a coal miner father and tarot card-reading mother, Mom was one of six children born in the mountains of Peachcreek, West Virginia. With little education and even less money, the family struggled to meet even their most basic needs. A move to Florida in the late ‘40’s did little to assuage their poverty but did bring some reprieve from the bitter West Virginia winters. In 1952, no longer able to afford to feed “a grown girl”, Mom moved out of the family trailer and into the upstairs supply room at Wilcox Pharmacy in Indian Rocks Beach, where she worked nights and weekends to support herself while she attended Largo High School, finally graduating with honors in 1955.
It was with this background that Mom brought to the task of looking for a “good cause”. Although she would never turn down a charitable request, whether for breast cancer research or MDA, it was always the needs of the poor, particularly children, that brought out her passion. In the late ‘90’s, with the last of her children gone and my Dad retired, Mom came across The Ruskin Infant Center. Run by the Redlands Christian Migrant Association, it provides day care for children aged newborn to five. Currently attended by 78 children, the offspring of migrant and other rural farm workers, in their 1600 sq ft facility, the center touched her heart and so began a personal relationship between my mother and the center that continued until her passing this spring.
In an effort to continue the work that had brought such joy to my mother’s life in her last years, her family has formed The Myrna Munroe Foundation for Disadvantaged Children, Inc. a nonprofit entity dedicated to raising funds for RCMA and similar organizations that cater to the community’s needy children. All proceeds from fundraising efforts go directly to the designated charity. The month-old foundation has raised over $1500.00 and on December 15, 2004 delivered two truckloads of new toys, diapers and other basic necessities to the Ruskin Infant Center, to the joy of children and contributors alike.
As those that knew her will attest, we may never possess the ability to attract charity as Mom did, but we will try. In her memory, we will surely try.
For more information about The Myrna Munroe Foundation, or to make a donation please call (727)360-9281 or email mmunroe@tampabay.rr.com.
Email: mmunroe@tampabay.rr.com
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