Column

Family suffers loss, gains friends

By Ernest Hooper, Times Columnist
Published February 10, 2008

From a distance, it appeared to be just another shopping center fundraiser by a group of teens.

Only when you got closer to the group in front of First Choice Haircutters at Bloomingdale Square in Valrico did you come to realize this wasn't a high school band peddling baked goods; this was a family banding together in the wake of a tragic loss.

Three days after 18-year-old Monica Demarco lost her life in a car accident, friends and relatives rallied behind the survivors: her husband of two years, Salvatore Demarco Jr.; her identical twin sister Elisha Gornto; and her infant daughter Harmony, who turned 1 on the day her mother's car collided with a sport utility vehicle at of Lumsden Road and Heather Lakes Drive.

The family put the bake sale together, which continues today from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., to raise money to help cover the cost of the funeral.

Monica, who worked at a RaceTrac gas station, and Salvatore, a 20-year-old X-ray technician, had no insurance. Their friends and relatives huddled around the two as I spoke to them, hugging them, holding their hands.

"She was just beautiful," Elisha said while fighting back tears. "She was very loving. She liked everybody. She was friendly and outgoing.

"She worked for her child. Her life, her love was her baby."

The moving portrait of solidarity touched many in the shopping center who learned of their story. The story already had touched Keith Johnson, and he learned of the tragedy in the worst way.

Keith, the general manager for Bob Wilson Dodge, witnessed the Wednesday night accident while driving to his home in Lithia. He stayed on the scene for three hours.

"I could not leave that girl's side until they removed her," Keith said. "I felt attached to her."

Like the shoppers who bought cookies and cupcakes from the family Saturday, Keith has made it his mission to raise money for Monica's funeral. The target is $10,400, and whatever is left will go into a trust fund for Harmony.

Keith will visit with them at the bake sale today, and appear with Mason Dixon on WRBQ-FM 104.7 (Q105) Monday morning to share Monica's story.

Bake sale

Monica Demarco's family will continue the sale at First Choice Haircutters at Bloomingdale Square in Valrico today from 11 a.m to 5 p.m.

[Last modified February 9, 2008, 23:35:32]