Kimberly Wetherell To exemplify women who give of themselves to their organizations and community through leadership and commitment, the Jewish Federation of Pinellas & Pasco Counties will honor 28 women at its annual Women of Distinction event.

This year’s honorees will be recognized at the event on Thursday, Dec. 8, at Ruth Eckerd Hall. The doors open at 6:15 p.m. for a reception with hors d’oeuvres, and the program starts approximately at 7:15 p.m. Cost is $25 for general admission; $50 for patrons. The community is invited to attend and honor the women.

The Federation annually asks local agencies, organizations, temples and synagogues to nominate one woman to honor who gives their time and energy to the Jewish community.

Clearwater native Kimberly Wetherell, writer, director and producer of the future film, Lullaby, will be the guest speaker. The film, a movie about hidden children of Poland during the Holocaust, is being shot mainly in the Tampa Bay area.

Wetherell began her career first as an actor and a singer, but soon discovered her calling as a director with a particular fondness for opera. At 26, she made her directing debut at the Houston Grand Opera with a production of L’elisir d’amore.

Wetherell says the idea for her new movie, Lullaby, came to her while working on an opera about Don Luis De Carvajal who was a converso, a Spanish Jew who had to convert or leave Spain during the Spanish Inquisition. The idea of hidden Jews stuck with her.

After she had written the first draft of the screenplay, Wetherell discovered her own Jewish roots. Her great-grandparents were Jewish, but hid their identity and chose to raise their family Catholic after coming to the United States from Poland.

Drawing partly from her own family’s history, Wetherell’s movie ultimately became the fictional story of Tess O’Keefe, a devout Polish Catholic immigrant living on Florida’s Gulf Coast. When she is uprooted to a retirement home after her husband’s death, her granddaughter stumbles across a mysterious box. The box reveals Tess’ secret past as one of Poland’s hidden children, causing her fragile tapestry of lies to unravel with excruciating, yet ultimately inspiring, consequences.

Women of Distinction 2011-12

Ethel Bergerman, Chabad of St. Petersburg; Ellen Bernstein, Congregation B’nai Israel; Ilene Betman, JCC West Pasco/Congregation Beth Tefillah; Linda Bullerman, Hadassah –Yachad Chapter; Susan Greear, Congregation B’nai Emmunah; Robyn Greenberg, Israel Bonds; Anita Helfand, Congregation B’nai Israel Sisterhood; Kitty Jacobs, Benjamin Tower Foundation; Denise Kirschbaum, Temple B’nai Israel Sisterhood; Denise Kreisler, Chabad of Pinellas County; Marilyn LeVine, Hadassah — St. Petersburg Chapter; Tiffanie Lopatin, JCC Suncoast; Jorie Massarsky, Temple Ahavat Shalom Sisterhood; Sofia Menahem, Tampa Bay Jewish Film Festival; Rose Mensh, Hadassah — Pasco Chapter; Betty Morgenstein,Temple Beth-El Sisterhood; Adele Morris, Menorah Manor; Evelyn Morrison, Hadassah - North Pinellas; Judy Noel, Temple Ahavat Shalom; Genia Pandorf, Temple B’nai Israel; Starr Silver, Jewish National Fund; Cyndi Silverman, Congregation Beth Shalom Sisterhood; Marie Silverman, Congregation Beth Shalom; Evelyn Steckler, Hadassah - Lylah; Lisa Titen, Gulf Coast Jewish Family & Community Services; Renee Walter, Florida Holocaust Museum; Becky Weiss, Temple Beth-El; Ellen Woll, Jewish Women International.

For more information about Women of Distinction or any other of Women’s Philanthropy programs and events, contact Randi Friedman at the Jewish Federation of Pinellas & Pasco Counties, (727) 530-3223 or rfriedman@jewishpinellas.org.