Some were Democrats recovering from the drubbing they received at the ballot box. Others were Republicans reveling in their many victories earlier this month. And still others were political independents just interested in contributing to a good cause.
Regardless of their political stripes, more than 100 aficionados of Florida politics responded to an urgent appeal from this website to donate to Metropolitan Ministries, which plans to feed more than 18,000 people this Thanksgiving.
Last week, the Tampa-based nonprofit kicked off its annual holiday drive by collecting food donations for families in need in the Tampa Bay area.
To assist that effort, SaintPetersBlog publisher Peter Schorsch asked subscribers of his morning email, Sunburn, to consider donating a turkey to the charity.
That appeal went out before sunrise last Wednesday. Yet it was not long before the (donated) turkeys were already flying.
Sawyer Smith of the Ft. Myers law firm Wilbur Smith was the first to respond with a donation of 50 turkeys.
Public relations powerhouse Ron Sachs followed that up with a donation of $200 to pay for side dishes. After all, what’s Thanksgiving dinner without cranberry dressing, mash potatoes and the like.
Not soon after, former House Speaker Will Weatherford rallied his friends and followers on Facebook to join in the “turkey drive.”
Schorsch said it wasn’t long before his email inbox was inundated with messages of donated turkeys.
Mary Hartley, president of Florida Fertilizer & Agrochemical Association was in for a bird, as was lobbyist Richard Reeves.
Many people, including AT&T’s Andrew Hall and Dr. Ed Moore, donated five turkeys.
Newly-elected state Representative Sean Shaw made an online contribution while participating in the first day of training for new lawmakers.
Several other lawmakers, including state Sen. Kelli Stargel, anted up, as did future Senate President Bill Galvano, who donated a whopping 50 turkeys.
Other generous donors were Jenna Simonetta and James Kotas, who seemed like they could not stop hitting the contribute button. Charter’s Brian Aungst and TECO’s Chuck Hinson and their families also made generous donations.
And for every name mentioned here, there were other donors who asked to remain anonymous.
As Wednesday drew to a close, the effort was close to reaching the 500-turkeys-donated mark. That’s when Brian Hughes of Meteoric Strategies and L.J. Govoni of Big Storm Brewing Co. both agreed to donate whatever amount was necessary to hit 500.
But even after that, there were many in “The Process” who were just then hearing about the effort and wanted to take part.
Josh Aubuchon was one of several lawyers with Holland & Knight who helped out.
Lisa Miller, Jason Roth, Sharon Smoley, Steve Uhlfelder, Judi Whitson of the Florida Farm Bureau, and Amy and Mark Zubaly helped push the drive to over 600 turkeys donated.
And yet, it was the final donation that was the largest.
Todd Josko of Ballard Partners emailed Friday night with this good news:
“Peter – saw your recent Metropolitan Ministries call to action. Thought you’d like to know that NAIOP Tampa Bay held their annual holiday Board meeting today at Metropolitan Ministries and donated $1840 (or 92 turkeys) between Chapter and individual members (and me.)”
With that and a handful of other last-minute donors, its safe to say that more than 750 turkeys were donated to Metropolitan Ministries.
Not only will many families be able to enjoy Thanksgiving dinner, this effort is proof that politicos of all stripes can, at least from time to time, come together for the right reason.
Here’s a partial list of all those who donated and not previously mentioned:
Rep. Jason Brodeur, Pat Bainter, Slater Bayliss, Steve Birtman, Greg Black, Ron Book, Laura Brock, Melanie Brown, Brad Burleson, Allison Carter, Kevin Cate, Juan del Cerro, Jorge Chamizo, Erin Choy, Chris Coyne, Mike Cribby and the Putnam County GOP, Larry Curtin, Ana Cruz, Jennifer Davis, Tom DiGiacomo, Susanna and Chris Dudley, FCCI, Cesar Fernandez, Max Flugarth, Jill Gran, Adriane Grant, Ashby Green, Melanie and Mike Griffin, Mike Grissom, Amy Guinan, Nicole Haggerty, Mike Haridopolos, Mike Harrell, Mary Hartney, Hawk, Bob Healy, Chuck Hinson, Christina and David Johnson, Andrew Ketchel and McKenzie Holt, Janine Kiray, Kristin Seidel Lamb, Bob Lotane, Shannon Love, Lara Medley, Jamie Miller, David Millner (10 turkeys), Christian Minor, Jamie Mongiovi, Dr. Ed Moore, Mary Murray, former Rep. Ed Narain, Sarah Niewold, Tom Parker, Dr. Darryl Paulson, Anthony Pedicini, Fred Piccolo, Drew Piers, Connie Prince, Rhett O’Doski (25 turkeys!!!), Richard Reeves, Robert Reyes, Andrea Reilly, Sydney Ridley, Rebecca Roman, RSA Consulting (Ron Pierce, Natalie King), Monica Rodriguez, Ashley and Scott Ross, Deborah Cox-Roush, Allison Liby-Schoonover and Chris Schoonover, Larry Sellers, Samantha Sexton, David Shepp, Shea Silverman, Southern Strategy Group – Tampa Bay, Chester Spellman, Ali Spiegel, Herbie Thiele, Chris Turner, Steve Uhlfelder, Cameron and Kyle Ulrich, Steve Vancore, Mike Vasalinda, Paul Wharton, Larry Williams, Tyler Wink.
