By KATIE HURST/ Lifestyles Editor

The Southern Women’s Committee of 50 will host its annual Southern Women of Distinction benefit luncheon March 31 at 11 a.m. at The Club in Birmingham.

The committee, made up of 50 women in south Jefferson and Shelby Counties, spotlights three distinguished women at the luncheon each year while raising funds for different area charities, said Carol Hill, past committee president.

This year, the women honored will be Patricia “Sister Schubert” Barnes, Lucy “LuLu” Anne Buffett and retired justice Patricia Smith.

Barnes will be recognized for her philanthropic work and her home-based business, Sister Schubert’s Homemade Rolls, which she founded in 1992 using her grandmother’s heirloom recipe.

Buffett, sister of musician Jimmy Buffett, will be honored for her famous destination restaurant, Lulu’s at Homeport Marina in Gulf Shores, and her new cookbook “Crazy Sista Cooking.”

Smith will be honored as one of the longest serving judges in the state of Alabama. In Shelby County, Smith helped establish the Developing Alabama Youth Foundation, Inc. and the Court Appointed Special Advocate programs. She has served on the advisory board for several non-profits and has been a frequent lecturer to associations of judges, probation officers and social workers.

Proceeds from the luncheon will benefit the Community of Hope Health Clinic in Pelham and the Lovelady Center.

The health clinic provides routine non-emergency medical services to un-insured Shelby County residents.

The Lovelady Center works with mothers leaving prison and their children.

Hill said the committee chooses different organizations each year to benefit in an effort to enhance the community.

Tickets for the luncheon are $50 and are on sale now by members of the SWC50. For more information on the luncheon or to purchase tickets, call Carol Hill at 965-1421.