Published: Friday, May. 30, 2008

Updated: Friday, May. 30, 2008

Residents embark on community building

Lakewood Ranch –   A row of homes does not a community make.
   
That's where the residents come in, and whether Lakewood Ranch residents are getting together to garden or chart their genealogy, they are building a community.

Almost a hundred clubs make their home in the Ranch, including many composed of members whose homes used to be elsewhere.
   
There's a large population of transplants from Great Britain here, some of whom belong to Brits on the Ranch. The members of that club don't hang out with Britons exclusively and have an affinity for Americans, but the club's a way for Britons new to the area to make friends and network.
   
For residents with an interest in golf, lacrosse, soccer, softball, swimming, tennis and volleyball, there are groups dedicated to playing or following those sports. Then there are more leisurely clubs for people who like to play games: bunco, bridge, euchre, mah-jongg and Scrabble.
   
Creative types can join arts and crafts groups. Pet lovers can be part of a club that's all about dogs, and parents can enroll their children in Brownies or Boy Scouts.
   
There also are a number of nonprofits that benefit from the community, mainly thanks to the Lakewood Ranch Community Fund. The fund, developed in 2000, gives to charities in Lakewood Ranch and East Manatee, especially those dedicated to youth, the elderly, the environment and the arts.
   
It receives grant money through corporate sponsorships and private donations, and in October gave grants totaling more than $110,000 to almost 20 local groups, including Manatee Children's Services, Manatee Technical Institute and Women's Resource Center of Manatee.
   
In 2006, the Lakewood Ranch Community Fund gave the first C. John A. Clarke Humanitarian Award to Don O'Leary, who sometimes is called the community's "mayor," and builder Pat Neal of Neal Communities received the second award in January.
   
The award recognizes those who uphold its namesake's dedication to humanitarianism --- a characteristic essential to community-building.