Tea Party Is Backbone Of Fundraising For Care Center

Published: May 7, 2008

BRANDON - Don't let the tea, scones, Devonshire cream and heirloom china fool you.

This was no trivial tea party, despite the fact that ladies gathered and were, indeed, consuming large quantities of tea.

That was obvious as soon as 21-year-old Hope Sullenberger approached the microphone and began to tell her story to the 350 women attending the Brandon Care Pregnancy Center Spring Tea Fundraiser April 19 at First Baptist Church of Brandon.

Sullenberger not only admitted what few women are willing to talk about in public, but she said she was willing to have her name printed in the newspaper in the hopes her story would inspire others who find themselves in the same circumstances.

At age 14, Sullenberger was raped, and she later discovered she was pregnant.

"One day, I was a kid going fishing with my grandfather," she said. "The next day, I was faced with becoming a mother. I'd never even driven a car or been on my first date."

She recalls being encouraged to have an abortion.

"Everyone said, 'How can you look at a child and know she was conceived out of hate?'" Sullenberger said.

But Sullenberger simply could not end the life of an innocent child because of how she was conceived. Instead, Sullenberger sought help at the nonprofit Brandon Care Pregnancy Center, which has offered counseling to women facing difficult pregnancies for 21 years.

Through classes and support, the Christian-based center, at 122 N. Moon Ave. in Brandon, provides women with the tools they need to make decisions best for themselves, whether it's adoption, abortion or keeping the child. The center also provides adoption support, post-abortion counseling, free pregnancy tests, abstinence education and parenting classes.

With the help of counselors at the center, Sullenberger decided to put her baby up for adoption. The center helped her find a couple in Pennsylvania unable to have children, and she mustered the courage to contact them. They were at her side when she gave birth, and she knew she had made the right decision when she saw them hold their baby, Faith, in their arms.

Faith is now 7, and Sullenberger keeps in touch with her and her adoptive parents. In the meantime, Sullenberger has transitioned from Brandon Care Pregnancy Center client to volunteer, serving as a speaker. She's a junior in college and plans to go to law school to become an adoption lawyer.

But it's Jessica Leigh's story that puts the need for such centers into perspective.

Leigh - once a well-paid, ambitious, status-seeking executive much too busy for a family - is now a counselor at the Brandon Care Pregnancy Center.

In her early 30s, her priorities were focused on being a success in business. So when she and her husband discovered she was pregnant, neither was enthused about the prospect of contending with diapers and bottles. She opted to have an abortion, surprised at how simple the process was and how little preparation and counseling she was offered beforehand.

The result, she said, was devastation to her emotional well-being. She got divorced and was plagued by depression and panic attacks until she was able to refocus her priorities in life.

She leads a post-abortion support group at the center.

Some 300 women walk through the doors of the center each month.

Last year, thanks to donations from Ace Hardware, Flooring America, Chadwell Homes and Tassels Fabrics, and volunteers from Bell Shoals Baptist Church and The Crossing church, the interior of the unpretentious 1,500-square-foot house got a makeover.

But events such as the annual tea, the center's fundraising banquet and year-round donations from the community continue to fuel the inspiration.

Never underestimate the value of a well-brewed cup of tea.

D'Ann Lawrence White can be reached at (813) 657-4524 or dlwhite@tampatrib.com.