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Councilman Hopes Extreme Move Spurs Others To Act

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By NICOLA M. WHITE, The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 10, 2007

ZEPHYRHILLS - Mahatma Gandhi did it to protest British rule in India.

The Rev. Al Sharpton did it to take a stand against Navy bombing exercises in Puerto Rico.

Now, Zephyrhills City Councilman Luis Lopez is doing it to raise awareness about hunger and poverty in Pasco County.

Lopez has pledged to consume nothing but vitamins and water during his monthlong hunger strike. If he's feeling weak, he'll take a sip of beef or chicken broth. He plans to do this on Christmas and New Year's, too.

The 45-year-old, 247-pound youth drug counselor said he's determined.

"I'm going to travel around the community. I'm going to try to coordinate some speaking engagements throughout the county, speak about the community, our neighbors about giving rather than receiving," he said.

By doing something extreme, Lopez hopes people listen when he encourages them to donate time and money to local food banks, soup kitchens and charities that help the hungry. He is not making fundraising a primary part of the fast, but if he does raise money along the way, he will give it to East Pasco Meals on Wheels and a soup kitchen in Zephyrhills, he said.

Cindy Beson, interim director of East Pasco Meals on Wheels, hadn't heard about Lopez's plans to raise money for her organization until a reporter called her.

"Is it our Meals on Wheels? Oh, my goodness," she said. "I think that's very honorable, and I think that is wonderful that he's doing that. If he can do something like that and go without meals for the cause of others that have nothing, that should make everybody else go, 'Wow.'"

The first-term councilman, who faces re-election in April, insists his hunger strike, which will end Jan. 3, is not a publicity stunt.

"I refuse to take this to the council," he said. "I don't want this to be a political issue.

"This is a personal thing. This is about challenging me. I'm going to meditate and pray about it."

Lopez was inspired to take action after meeting a homeless father and daughter at a rest stop on Interstate 95 last weekend. The girl, who was about 10, was hungry, and Lopez said he bought the pair a meal. Driving back to Zephyrhills, the experience nagged him.

That night, he ate his last pre-fast meal: his mother's goat stew and Spanish rice.

"I looked at it," he said. "I just said, 'That's it.'"

He went to work that Monday at San Antonio Boys Village and ate nothing. When he came home, his wife asked him what he wanted for dinner. He told her that he was on a hunger strike.

His wife might be used to Lopez's unorthodox ideas. Last year, he threw on some shabby clothes, grabbed a backpack and set out on foot to spend 48 hours as a homeless man. He alerted the media about his venture and wrote guest columns for local newspapers about it.

Reporter Nicola M. White can be reached at (813) 779-4613 or nwhite1@tampatrib.com.

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