Aspire Plant City honors longtime community volunteer for her dedication, generosity and lasting impact on the local community.
Aspire Plant City is a local nonprofit that believes every woman has value and worth that she can offer her community. The foundation of the organization is built on their members’ shared values.
Each year the organization recognizes a local woman for the difference she makes in the Plant City community. On Nov. 4, local resident and icon, Dodie White, was named Aspire Plant City’s 2026 Woman of Distinction. “After the initial shock (and a sincere, happy cry) I felt completely honored to have been chosen,” White said. “Awards are just not something I ever consider when I do anything. I volunteer on boards and committees simply because I love doing it and in my opinion, it’s the right thing to do. If I feel passionate about something, I want to help in any way possible.”
White loves Plant City, and she considers it a privilege to serve her community. “Many years ago, I learned a valuable lesson from a friend who served on a board with me at the time,” White said. “He said, ‘we are volunteers until we accept the task, then it becomes our job.’ So, from that time on, I consider anything I volunteer to do as my job until it’s completed. I do consider myself very blessed to be among the six amazing women who have received this honor before me.”
Samantha Wharton is the current President of Aspire Plant City and she and the nominating committee of Aspire felt that White was an easy choice for the award. “She is the kind of woman who leads by example,” Wharton said. “She gives so much of herself to others and makes an impact on the people in the community around her. Her dedication, generosity, and the way she continually lifts others up, embodies everything the Woman of Distinction Award represents. We wanted to take the opportunity to recognize not just what Dodie has accomplished, but the difference she makes in the lives of those around her. She is someone we can all look up to.”
White feels her award is a way to get the message out to the community about what Aspire does for its members and local women. “Aspire empowers women personally and professionally through community, growth, and support,” White said. “Networking is probably the best platform that we have to show our love and support for each other. God created us to have diversities among us, so it’s important to learn from each other, to lift each other up, to be happy when others are happy, and sad when they’re sad. We’re all important, and each one of us is here on this earth for a reason.”
White’s sister, Marsha Passmore was the first recipient of the Woman of Distinction Award in 2020. “I remember how proud I was of her,” White said. “I knew how much time and effort she had put into our fabulous Plant City community, and I knew how deserving she was of this honor. I was given the opportunity to speak that day, and I remember telling funny stories about our adventures as sisters, and how she had always been my ‘hero.’ Fast forward to 2026, and she was given the opportunity to reciprocate and she did just that. We love each other unconditionally…. we’ve never been jealous of each other, and we’ve supported each other 100 percent, not always agreeing on things, but supporting each other with love and respect. I’m tremendously honored to have my name added to the list of Aspire’s Women of Distinction with Marsha.”
White wants the community to know that even though we may have different thought processes, we are not all the same. “God gave each one of us a brain to think with and our opinions will differ, but that’s okay,” she said. “Be respectful of each other, love each other, support each other, look for the good in each other, and always have a positive attitude.”
If you would like to learn more about Aspire Plant City, or if you would like to become a member of the organization, you can visit their website at https://aspireplantcity.wildapricot.org.
