PLANT CITY – For most of her life, Sharon Moody said she’s considered helping others her “passion.”

Moody, a Plant City native, has been given an opportunity to further that passion. As of Oct. 1, Moody became the newly elected governor of the Florida District of Kiwanis International.

A longtime leader in community involvement and education, Moody officially began in her role as Kiwanis’ district governor Oct. 1.

As governor for 2022-23, Moody will help guide one of the largest Kiwanis districts in the United States, serving 220 clubs and 348 Key Clubs, including those in the Caribbean countries of Grand Cayman, Turks & Caicos and Puerto Rico, which consists of nearly 28,000 members, according to Kiwanis.

Speaking from her home in Plant City, Moody said she’s looking forward to being able to help increase district membership through adding clubs and strengthening current clubs.

Moody was elected governor at the Kiwanis Florida District Convention in Naples in August.

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“I hope to make more Floridians aware of, and involved in, the Kiwanis message of ‘Improving the world one child and one community at a time,’” she said. “I’m a hands-on type of person. If someone calls me and says, ‘Want to do a service project?’ I’m there.”

The Florida District of Kiwanis International is one of the world’s largest community service organizations with more than 550,000 members in 85 countries. Its focus is helping children, and members are involved with approximately 150,000 service projects a year — more than 19 million hours of community involvement.

Moody, 66, a retired revenue specialist with the State of Florida, first joined Kiwanis in 2007 after being asked to join by James McDaniel, a City of Plant City employee.

Since then, Moody has twice served as club president, lieutenant club governor and treasurer. She has served three district chairs, became vice-governor in 2019 and now governor.

“Sharon is going to be an outstanding governor because she’s passionate about serving her community and she’s dedicated to making the world a better place for kids,” said Todd Smith of Orlando, Florida District governor from 2017 to 2018. Moody served on his leadership team as statewide chairwoman of the Human and Spiritual Values Committee as well as in other Kiwanis leadership roles.

Working with children: 'That's my passion'

Part of her altruistic tendencies include working as a teacher’s aide with Hillsborough County schools, volunteering with Plant City Colts Youth Football as a cheerleading coach and volunteering with the Pink Ladies at South Florida Baptist Hospital, Plant City. She was recently awarded a Strong Leader Award with the Plant City YMCA.

“I was already working with children, that’s always been my passion. When I started volunteering in the community, it was always with kids, Moody said. “That’s my passion; I’ve always liked doing things for others.”

This year, Moody — founder and past president of the Plant City Black Heritage Celebration and the Plant City Junior League Woman’s Club – brought together the Kiwanis Club of Plant City, the Plant City Police Department, the City of Plant City and Kiwanis Literacy Clubs of California for the Kiwanis “Cops ‘N Kids” program.

The program was a book drive for which the police department and the California clubs collected more than 600 books over the summer. Then police officers read to kids to promote children’s literacy and community trust in law enforcement.

“Improving a child’s reading skills and instilling a trust in police is a win-win for everyone,” Moody said.

In her new position, Moody said she’s already begun visiting Kiwanis’ districts across the state and will visit clubs in the Cayman Islands, the Turks & Caicos Islands and a new club in St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands. She planned to go there last week.

A plan to grow the clubs

Moody said she and her board hope to work on opening new clubs in Tallahassee, Jacksonville, Orlando, Miami, West Palm Beach, across the Tampa Bay area and in areas impacted by Hurricane Ian. She also wants to work on retention of clubs and their members. A goal is to open nine new clubs by the end of her term, Sept. 30, with a net of 400 members for the Florida District.

Moody said her theme as governor is “Let’s stay together.” Her slogan is “Charged up, ready to serve,” and she even picked out a theme song: “Let’s Stay Together” by Al Green – all ways to encourage member engagement.

As a member of Kiwanis, Moody stays engaged, having held nine district-level positions and five club-level positions and was the recipient of the Kiwanis International President Challenge Award, the Distinguished Lieutenant Governor Award and the Distinguished President Award. She was also Citizen of the Year in 2016.

Moody is the daughter of lifelong Plant City residents Emmett and Hattie Mae Hall and granddaughter of Plant City native Ada Mae Williams. She has two brothers, Terry Hall, deceased and Emmett Hall Jr. She attended Plant City High School and received her GED in 1974.

Moody attended Hillsborough Community College and Kennedy-Western University, in Cheyenne, Wyoming, where she received a bachelor's degree in business administration in 1995.

This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Plant City native Sharon Moody named Kiwanis governor for Florida