Hurricane Irma strips the roof from one of Bradenton’s most generous givers

The price of bread in 1921 was about 9 cents a loaf, and you could grab a beef rib roast for 39 cents a pound.

The cost to build the elegant Bradenton Woman’s Club with second-floor dinner seating overlooking Ware’s Creek was $22,500.

Their contributions to the Bradenton community for almost a century? Priceless.

The Bradenton Woman’s Club was founded in 1913 and eight years later its now historic building rose from the ground. The club has spent the last 97 years giving back to the community, and now it needs the community’s help.

Hurricane Irma destroyed a good portion of the building’s main angled roof and stripped about 80 percent of the flat portions completely bare.

Members of the club arrived the day after the storm to find 3 inches of water covering the original 1921 wood floor, which has caused a large area that has witnessed generations of dancers to warp. The good news is that the floor can be saved. The bad news is that it will cost $10,000 on top of replacing a roof that is still undergoing estimates.

Rebecca Biro, club treasurer, said the nonprofit organization has been debt-free since paying off the mortgage on the building in 1925. Its primary goal of raising funds for local charities is in jeopardy as long as the building remains closed.

“It was a devastating sight,” Biro said. “As small as we are, with the fundraising we do, we still support local charities.”

Hope Family Services, League of Women Voters, Relay for Life, Feeding Empty Little Tummies and more have all been annual beneficiaries. The group holds an annual ball that is one of its biggest fund-raising events for a specific charity each year. Biro said that last year, the money was donated to local emergency responders, and this year’s ball was to benefit local veterans.

Biro couldn’t remember the last time the roof had been replaced, but the organization was already earmarking funds for a new roof.

“We knew it was coming eventually, but we thought we had more time,” she said. “But Irma stripped it for us.”

Biro immediately put out a plea on social media for help. The president of CRM South Roofing Solutions saw the plea and the next day sent a crew out to tarp the building before any more water damage could occur. Costs are expected to run into the tens of thousands and the organization has established a $150,000 goal on a gofundme.com site. Created Sept. 14, the site has raised almost $2,000.

Donations are also being accepted at bradentonwomansclub.com or by calling Biro at 941-896-6541.

The club, in its heyday, was 400 members strong. Today, just 24 members hold events and rent the facility, bringing in about $35,000 a year. A portion of those dollars goes toward repairs and maintenance of the old building, and the remaining funds are dedicated to the charities.

The Bradenton Woman’s Club over the years was responsible for funding the Bradenton library and the community’s first youth baseball field. Today, it still helps Habitat for Humanity, Manatee Boys and Girls Club, the Children’s Academy of Southwest Florida, Council on Aging, Adopt a Family, Children’s Home Society of Florida, Meals on Wheels and more.

Members are donating their own time and money to to get as much cleaned up as they can. Biro said if all goes well, the club hopes to reopen by Dec. 1.

This story was originally published September 28, 2017 at 2:21 PM with the headline "Hurricane Irma strips the roof from one of Bradenton’s most generous givers."