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Governor Drops In For CARES Benefit

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By CHRISTIAN M. WADE, The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 25, 2007

NEW PORT RICHEY - The governor was in good company.

Among the 600 people who packed New Port Richey's Spartan Manor on Monday night were many of the local powerbrokers who helped propel Charlie Crist into office last year, including state Sen. Mike Fasano, R-New Port Richey, Pasco County Sheriff Bob White, schools superintendent Heather Fiorentino and Bill Bunting, chairman of Pasco's Republican Party.

The evening's festivities had little to do with politics, though.

Crist, who swung through the county on his way back to Tallahassee from Tampa, came to Community Aging and Retirement Services' annual banquet to be honored for his contributions to Florida seniors.

'It's really important to stay focused on people, especially the most vulnerable of our citizens, the elderly, and that's what CARES is all about,' Crist told the crowd.

The CARES banquet marked the governor's first visit to Pasco County since he was elected.

'The first time I shot a deer was in Pasco County,' Crist said, offering an anecdote about a hunting trip to Starkey Ranch. 'That was also the last time I shot a deer.'

The co-chairmen of the CARES board of directors, Fasano and Rao Musunuru of Regional Medical Center Bayonet Point, also were honored.

The annual CARES benefit raised more than $140,000 for the nonprofit organization. The money will help pay for home care services to help seniors remain safe and independent in their homes and help support CARES' regional centers.

CARES provides a range of services to seniors in West Central Florida.

Before he left, Fasano presented Crist with a plaque inscribed with a Winston Churchill quote:

'We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.'

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