{"id":498,"date":"2013-11-12T21:48:46","date_gmt":"2013-11-12T21:48:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/southtampamagazine.com\/?p=498"},"modified":"2016-07-18T02:47:56","modified_gmt":"2016-07-18T02:47:56","slug":"tampa-bays-10-leading-ladies-2011-karen-brooks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/southtampamagazine.com\/tampa-bays-10-leading-ladies-2011-karen-brooks\/","title":{"rendered":"Tampa Bay&#8217;s 10 Leading Ladies 2011: Karen Brooks"},"content":{"rendered":"<div\n\tclass=\"ngg-galleryoverview\"\n\tid=\"ngg-gallery-1713bf4b4294392208ac624e165e2844-1\">\n\n    \t\t<!-- Thumbnails -->\n\t\t\t\t<div id=\"ngg-image-0\" class=\"ngg-gallery-thumbnail-box\" >\n\t\t\t\t        <div class=\"ngg-gallery-thumbnail\">\n            <a href=\"http:\/\/southtampamagazine.com\/wp-content\/gallery\/karen-brooks\/a0102844.jpg\"\n               title=\"Karen Brooks, Executive Director at LifeCare of Brandon\"\n               data-src=\"http:\/\/southtampamagazine.com\/wp-content\/gallery\/karen-brooks\/a0102844.jpg\"\n               data-thumbnail=\"http:\/\/southtampamagazine.com\/wp-content\/gallery\/karen-brooks\/thumbs\/thumbs_a0102844.jpg\"\n               data-image-id=\"133\"\n               data-title=\"a0102844\"\n               data-description=\"Karen Brooks, Executive Director at LifeCare of Brandon\"\n               class=\"ngg-fancybox\" rel=\"1713bf4b4294392208ac624e165e2844\">\n                <img\n                    title=\"a0102844\"\n                    alt=\"a0102844\"\n                    src=\"http:\/\/southtampamagazine.com\/wp-content\/gallery\/karen-brooks\/thumbs\/thumbs_a0102844.jpg\"\n                    width=\"120\"\n                    height=\"90\"\n                    style=\"max-width:100%;\"\n                \/>\n            <\/a>\n        <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div> \n\t\t\t\n        \n\t\t\t\t<div id=\"ngg-image-1\" class=\"ngg-gallery-thumbnail-box\" >\n\t\t\t\t        <div class=\"ngg-gallery-thumbnail\">\n            <a href=\"http:\/\/southtampamagazine.com\/wp-content\/gallery\/karen-brooks\/a0102887.jpg\"\n               title=\"Karen&#039;s Cherries in the Snow\"\n               data-src=\"http:\/\/southtampamagazine.com\/wp-content\/gallery\/karen-brooks\/a0102887.jpg\"\n               data-thumbnail=\"http:\/\/southtampamagazine.com\/wp-content\/gallery\/karen-brooks\/thumbs\/thumbs_a0102887.jpg\"\n               data-image-id=\"134\"\n               data-title=\"a0102887\"\n               data-description=\"Karen&#039;s Cherries in the Snow\"\n               class=\"ngg-fancybox\" rel=\"1713bf4b4294392208ac624e165e2844\">\n                <img\n                    title=\"a0102887\"\n                    alt=\"a0102887\"\n                    src=\"http:\/\/southtampamagazine.com\/wp-content\/gallery\/karen-brooks\/thumbs\/thumbs_a0102887.jpg\"\n                    width=\"120\"\n                    height=\"90\"\n                    style=\"max-width:100%;\"\n                \/>\n            <\/a>\n        <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div> \n\t\t\t\n        \n\t\t\n\t\t<!-- Pagination -->\n\t<div class='ngg-clear'><\/div>\t<\/div>\n\n<p>Karen Brooks<\/p>\n<p>Executive Director at LifeCare of Brandon, Valrico resident Karen Brooks found\u00a0a way to turn her concern about unplanned pregnancy into a career. Through\u00a0her work at LifeCare of Brandon, which is a 501(C) (3) non-profit outreach\u00a0ministry, she is able to provide support to teens, women, couples and families\u00a0who are facing the challenge of an unplanned pregnancy. Karen has been\u00a0married to Paul Brooks for 34years and has two children, Bryan and Kari.<\/p>\n<p>How did you become involved in the charity?<\/p>\n<p>I began to volunteer as a LifeCoach in 1988 because I was concerned about\u00a0the increasing number of teens and women facing unplanned pregnancies. I\u00a0wanted to do something positive to make a difference and impact lives with\u00a0compassionate care and education.\u00a0After 5 years of volunteer service, I was hired on staff as the first Client\u00a0Services Director. In 2007 I became Center Director and in January 2011 the\u00a0leadership mantle of Executive Director was passed to me by President and\u00a0Founder, Cookie Gray, who started the ministry in June 1987.<\/p>\n<p>What is one of your favorite memories when working with your charity?<\/p>\n<p>When clients we serve are filled with hope for their future and we get to\u00a0witness the transformation of their lives.<\/p>\n<p>What is one of your favorite charity events in Tampa and why?<\/p>\n<p>The LifeCare Fundraising Gala. Nearly 800 people from the community\u00a0come together in unity and support of our mission and vision. Clients whose\u00a0lives have been changed share their testimonies and guests are given the\u00a0opportunity to invest in the ministry of LifeCare.<\/p>\n<p>As a leading lady, what is one of your proudest accomplishments?<\/p>\n<p>The honor and privilege to fulfill my calling and life purpose in full-time\u00a0ministry at LifeCare.<\/p>\n<p>Who do you most admire in the Bay area?<\/p>\n<p>Coach Tony Dungy and his wife, Lauren, because of their inspiring faith in God\u00a0and commitment to invest and impact our community for good.<\/p>\n<p>Outside of charity work, what inspires you?<\/p>\n<p>My faith and trust in Christ inspires me daily to love others and make an\u00a0eternal difference.<\/p>\n<p>Now that we\u2019re entering the holiday season, what is one of your favorite\u00a0memories with your family?<\/p>\n<p>The year our family spent Christmas in Colorado; the only white Christmas we\u00a0have shared together.<\/p>\n<p>What are a couple of your cherished holiday traditions?<\/p>\n<p>As our children were growing up, our family tradition was to read the\u00a0Christmas story in the Bible on Christmas morning before opening our\u00a0presents. It helped us to remember and focus on the real meaning of\u00a0Christmas. As adults, our kids still want to read the Christmas story first and\u00a0they desire to pass this tradition on in their own families.<\/p>\n<p>What part of the holidays do you most look forward to?<\/p>\n<p>Celebrating the birth of Christ, who came to demonstrate his love for us\u00a0as the Savior of the world. I love to hear the Christmas carols about the\u00a0birth of Christ playing in the mall and the feeling of peace, comfort and joy I\u00a0experience during the Christmas season \u2013 \u201cJoy to the World!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>If you had one wish this holiday season, what would it be?<\/p>\n<p>That people would embrace the true meaning of Christmas and choose to live\u00a0and obey the greatest commandment of Christ:\u00a0\u201cLove the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength and love\u00a0your neighbor as yourself.\u201d Mark 12:30-3<\/p>\n<p>What is your motto or words you live by?<\/p>\n<p>My life mission: \u201cI consider my life worth nothing to me if only I may\u00a0finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me- the\u00a0task of testifying to the gospel of God\u2019s grace.\u201d Acts 20:24<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Cherries in the Snow<\/p>\n<p>Ingredients<\/p>\n<p>Crust:<\/p>\n<p>1 cup flour<\/p>\n<p>\u00bd cup butter<\/p>\n<p>\u00bc cup brown sugar<\/p>\n<p>\u00bd cup chopped nuts<\/p>\n<p>Filling:<\/p>\n<p>8 ozs cream cheese<\/p>\n<p>\u00bc cup powdered sugar<\/p>\n<p>2 tsps vanilla<\/p>\n<p>Instructions<\/p>\n<p>Crust:<\/p>\n<p>Combine ingredients and pat in bottom of greased 9 X 12 baking dish. Bake for 15 minutes at\u00a0375 degrees.<\/p>\n<p>Filling:<\/p>\n<p>Cream together and fold in an 8 ounce container of cool whip. Pour over cooled crust and the\u00a0pour cherry pie filling over the top and chill.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Karen Brooks Executive Director at LifeCare of Brandon, Valrico resident Karen Brooks found\u00a0a way to turn her concern about unplanned pregnancy into a career. Through\u00a0her work at LifeCare of Brandon, which is a 501(C) (3) non-profit outreach\u00a0ministry, she is able to provide support to teens, women, couples and families\u00a0who are facing the challenge of an [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":528,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[134,5,1768],"tags":[1479,1480],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/southtampamagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/498"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/southtampamagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/southtampamagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/southtampamagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/southtampamagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=498"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/southtampamagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/498\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/southtampamagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/528"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/southtampamagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=498"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/southtampamagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=498"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/southtampamagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=498"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}