Group Leaders and Other Contacts
Jennifer Smith
Jen is our founder, the leader of the La Hacienda Recreation Center Group and Board President. She is also the Outreach Coordinator - she researches our charities, often visiting their locations, and works with their personnel to determine what we can provide for them. She will be happy to answer questions about our group or discuss a charity in our area that can use our help.
She can be reached at (352) 250-3431 or jpsmith5@comcast.net.
Born and raised in England, Jen graduated at age 16 and moved from home to begin her first job to help care for a family with four children, two of which were severely handicapped. Four years later, she moved to London to attend The Hyde Park Nanny Agency. Jen met and married Terry, a member of the United States Air Force, and for the next 20 years lived in several countries and US states, caring for children wherever they were stationed.
Jen and Terry's move to The Villages in 1998 was their 32nd! Continuing her love of children, Jen was nanny to a family in Lake Mary and then to two more children in Mount Dora. In her childcare career, Jen has helped to raise 12 girls and 1 boy, as well as her own two boys. She now has 6 grandchildren.
In 1999 Jen fundraised for The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and trained for her first marathon in Anchorage, Alaska. Since then, she has completed 6 marathons and 25 half marathons. In 2001, she founded SOLEMATES, a walking group in The Villages, and continues to train locally for trail races. She also serves as the Vice President of The Villages Acknowledging Acts of Kindness Club.
For eight years Jen volunteered with Angel Snugs, a non-profit group who made hats for children battling cancer. In 2019, Jen gathered together a few of her group leaders and decided to make a change. She formed Abundance Of Love, who now donate their knitted, loomed, crocheted, and sewn items locally. Today the Abundance Of Love organization has grown to over 100 volunteers meeting in four locations, donating to more than 40 local charities, and continuing to care for the less fortunate, the homeless, children, and veterans.
Bonnie Mulneix
Bonnie is the leader of the Big Cypress Recreation Center Group and a member of the Board. She is also the facilitator of the port pillow and pillowcase sewing projects.
She can be reached at (724) 283-8248 or dmulneix@comcast.net.
Bonnie, originally from Butler Pennsylvania, has a B.S. in Health, Physical Education and recreation, and an M. Ed. in Health Education. She taught school for 36 years, and was involved in community service in her area. She was an Assistant Director of a local community center for 10 years, and on the Board of Directors of the center for 5 years. She was also a Girl Scout leader for 5 years.
Bonnie moved to the Village of Tall Trees with her husband Donald in 2011. In addition to her work with Abundance Of Love, she is Co-Director of Tall Trees Caring Neighbors and Co-Leader of Bone Builders at Pimlico Recreation Center. Bonnie is an active member of Acknowledging Acts of Kindness Club, Tall Trees Ladies Club, Straight Shooters Club, Couples Saturday Golf League, and Three Rivers Club.
Johanna Cole
Johanna is the leader of the Everglades Recreation Center Group and a member of the Board.
She can be reached at (352) 205-9863 or virginia2villages@gmail.com.
During Johanna's career, she worked as a Quality Assurance Manager, Software Development Program Manager, and CEO. Some well-known projects she was involved with are the Affordable Care Act system, and the Independent Verification and Validation of the Enroute Automation Modernization (ERAM) of the FAA Air Traffic Control System. She was also the CEO and co-owner of a company which provided instruction and recommendations to other companies to improve development processes in order to pass the Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI) assessment.
Since retirement 9 years ago, she keeps busy volunteering for organizations that help others, such as Abundance Of Love and Friends of Sozo Kids, Inc.
People who know Johanna Cole describe her as friendly, thoughtful, helpful, a good listener, and detail-oriented. She enjoys her family and friends, bowling, crocheting, crafts, most outdoor sports, and board games.
Kathy Morey
Kathy is the leader of the Fruitland Park Group and is the Board Treasurer. She is also the webmaster.
She can be reached at (248) 214-4167 or kmmonroad@gmail.com.
Kathy started her career in the Bookkeeping Department of a small community bank. She eventually became operations/branch manager. Deciding that she couldn't go farther without a degree (and that she didn't want a business degree), Kathy went to ITT to get a certificate in Computer Programming (back before it was called "software engineering") and worked at Liberty State community bank, developing software for functions in the backroom areas that were not yet integrated into the bank's main software.
Later, Kathy went to work for Jack Henry & Associates as a software engineer in their Synergy division, which provides document management functionality to customers of their bank processing software. During this time she also earned a Bachelor's Degree in Web Design at Baker College in Southeastern Michigan.
Kathy retired in 2015 when her husband proposed selling their house, moving into their 40-foot fifth-wheel RV, and hitting the road. A few years later they settled in The Villages, Florida, where Kathy leads a neighborhood book club and enjoys several adult coloring clubs, acrylic painting, board game nights with friends, and, of course, crocheting and looming for Abundance Of Love.
Nancy Still
Nancy edits and distributes the monthly newsletter for the group and is the Board Secretary. She is also the facilitator of the medical doll, youth surgical hat, and Hearts of Love projects.
She can be reached at (301) 538-3103 or nlsfree2paint@yahoo.com.
In her “former” life in Maryland, Nancy worked for the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission as a project manager and at an engineering firm as an office manager. Her education and work background are in the area of management studies.
She always had the love of arts and crafts from childhood and has dabbled in numerous crafts throughout her life. She is an accomplished oil paint artist and taught classes and workshops in Maryland. Her love of oil painting led her to the world of miniature art, and she is currently the President of the Miniature Painters, Sculptors & Gravers Society of Washington, DC. She gives presentations on miniature art, and owns a miniature art supply business, MiniArt Supply.
Today, she paints less and sews more as she coordinates the Abundance Of Love medical doll and surgical hat projects and coordinates with our hospitals. She and her husband Don moved to The Villages in 2019.
Nancy sees joining Abundance Of Love as a blessing since it brings together two of her passions – arts/crafts and volunteering.
Linda Ryan
Linda, with her husband Dennis, delivers our items to local organizations, and picks up large donations of yarn and fabric.
She can be reached at (414) 333-0776 or LRyan8643@gmail.com.
Linda joined Abundance Of Love shortly after moving to The Villages. A member taught her how to loom, she taught herself how to crochet, and she loves both. Dennis loves to drive and take day trips, so they volunteered to deliver the thousands of items that we distribute each year. They also gladly pick up donations that will help us fulfill our mission.
Linda also started a sub-group of volunteers that meets weekly at her home and has helped start three additional sub-groups that meet at others' homes.
Both Dennis and Linda are active with the Lake Sumter Lions Club, with their main focus the Vision Screening Team that has screened over 23,000 children, ages 6 months to 18, since 2016. The purpose of the screenings is to help identify vision issues. Dennis is also an active member of CERT (Citizens Emergency Response Team).
In their spare time, they enjoy playing cards and socializing with their many friends and neighbors. They also have an RV and manage to travel many miles each year, enjoying different parts of the country and spending time with family in Wisconsin.