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By JASON GEARY, The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 7, 2007

WESTCHASE - Although gated neighborhoods, homeowners within Harbor Links and The Estates are open to caring for others.

The Westchase neighborhoods will be conducting a food drive on Sunday.

Volunteers from about a dozen families will drop off plastic bags at the front doors of the 172 homes within the neighborhoods. Residents will fill up the bags with food and other necessities.

The families will pick up the donations on Sunday to benefit Metropolitan Ministries, an agency helping the poor and homeless in the Tampa Bay area.

"Their shelves were bare, and we feel fortunate in our area," said Nancy Gerovac, one homeowner helping with the drive.

In addition, Cynthia Keenan, a four-year resident of Harbor Links, is coordinating efforts of Westchase Kids Care Club, a volunteer organization of elementary and middle school children.

The group received a $350 grant from Quaker, a Chicago-based snack and food company, to buy backpacks and toiletries for homeless children. Those will also be sent to Metropolitan Ministries.

Other residents of Harbor Links and The Estates have participated in charitable endeavors before.

In 2004, Ben Stein, then 12, and others helped collect more than 1,000 pounds of food, along with clothes, toys and money for Metropolitan Ministries. Stein organized the drive as part of a service project in preparation for his bar mitzvah.

Last year, neighbors who regularly play Bunco, a dice game, heard about a local family needing help for the holidays. The players quickly assembled presents, clothes, food and money.

"It just kind of happened," said Nancy Sells, who serves as voting member for Harbor Links and The Estates within the Westchase Community Association.

The two neighborhoods are behind two gated entrances: one on Peabody Lane and the other on Radcliff Drive.

Homes within the neighborhoods are similar except that those in The Estates are perhaps a little larger, Sells said.

"In general, if you go down and look, the styles are comparable," she said.

Neighbors are friendly, getting together regularly for "happy hours" or small informal parties, Sells said.

A holiday party was held last year and another is being scheduled for December at the nearby Westchase Golf Club, she said.

"People really seem to enjoy it," Sells said.

HARBOR LINKS AND THE ESTATES

NUMBER OF HOMES: 172

BACKGROUND: Harbor Links and The Estates are part of Westchase, a deed-restricted community of more than 3,400 homes in northwest Hillsborough County.

HOMEOWNERS ASSOCIATION INFORMATION: Harbor Links and The Estates are part of the Westchase Community Association, whose president is Ruben Collazo.

Reporter Jason Geary can be reached at (813) 865-1505 or jgeary@tampatrib.com.

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