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Fasting feeds no ego, but spotlights others' hunger

By ANDREW SKERRITT
Published January 6, 2008

ADVERTISEMENT Zephyrhills City Council member Luis Lopez's 32-day fast raised some money and awareness. [Mike Pease | Times]

Luis Lopez never guessed that rice, peas and baked fish could taste so good.

But after 32 days without a square meal, the big guy was ready to wolf down anything.

In case you missed it, the Zephyrhills City Council member launched a hunger strike during the holiday season - a time of gluttony and material excess - to call attention to the hungry among us.

He was moved by the plight of a homeless father and daughter he encountered at a South Florida restaurant months ago. The two were sleeping at rest stops as the dad traveled up and down the east coast of Florida looking for work.

Every day for more than a month, Lopez, 45, drank water, vitamins and a grape-flavored dietary supplement, Pedialyte.

Every few days, he drank hot beef or chicken broth, which must have tasted like a three-course meal. Daily he battled the urge for a cup of coffee, to sneak away to a restaurant and order a burger. No one would know.

Along the way, he shed 37 pounds from his 6-foot-1, 240-pound frame and raised a few hundred dollars for two groups who feed the less fortunate.

"I'm humbled by the experience," said Lopez, who ended his fast with a lunch at the East Pasco Meals on Wheel in Zephyrhills on Thursday.

Some might dismiss this as a politician's publicity stunt.

"That's a dumb way to get attention," he scoffed.

Lopez began eating again during the coldest days of the year, a time that we naturally think about the homeless, those without a warm shelter and those struggling to put a warm meal in their stomachs. This is a timely reminder that even as the generous season of giving ends, the needs persist. And all the signs - property foreclosures, job layoffs and rising gas prices - say it's going to be a tough year for many.

The evidence stands outside the food banks and soup kitchens. Tammy Bennett, whose Someone Loves You Ministry distributes food at Spring Hill Calvary Church of the Nazarene, sees 12 to 15 new families every week. Bennett wasn't planning to reopen until Monday, but as soon as she stopped by the food pantry last week, folks began queuing up for food.

There's a lot of hurting people out there," she said. For these people, hunger is a way of life.

They're now Lopez's key constituency, their plight his crusade.

Andrew Skerritt can be reached at askerritt@sptimes.com 813 909-4602 or toll-free at 1-800-333-7505, ext. 4602.

[Last modified January 5, 2008, 20:10:11]