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Lopez Ends Fast With Meals On Wheels Dinner

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By NICOLA M. WHITE, The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 4, 2008

ZEPHYRHILLS - City Councilman Luis Lopez ended his 32-day hunger strike Thursday with a few bites of a simple boxed lunch from East Pasco Meals on Wheels.

Lopez, 45, a first-term city councilman, decided to start fasting Dec. 3 to raise awareness about hunger in the community. He lost 37 pounds. Along the way, people donated money that he earmarked for East Pasco Meals on Wheels and the soup kitchen at Community Chapel Church of God.

"Let's eat," Lopez said as Meals on Wheels chef Greg Vest handed him a foam container of white rice, peas, baked tilapia and cream of broccoli soup at the agency's 15th Avenue headquarters.

Lopez didn't want a fancy meal; he wanted to eat exactly what the nonprofit agency's mostly senior citizen clients eat on a regular basis, he said.

Without agencies like Meals on Wheels and the local soup kitchen, many people in the community would go hungry, Lopez said during his fast.

Lopez consumed nothing but vitamins and water for the 32 days he fasted. He drank heated chicken or beef broth every few days as well as grape-flavored Pedialyte, a children's dietary supplement, for strength.

He stuck to his commitment throughout the holidays. That meant no Christmas dinner and no New Year's Eve Chinese takeout, his family's traditional holiday meal.

"They talked. I just ate my chicken broth," he said. "That was a pretty hard day for me, New Year's Day."

He started his fast at 247 pounds. Thursday afternoon, he weighed 210. His stomach was noticeably flatter and his face more gaunt. He said that although fasting was difficult, he was in decent spirits throughout it. He went to work every day at the San Antonio Boys Village, where he is a youth counselor.

"Since he likes to eat so much, I didn't think he could do it," his wife, Deborah, said Thursday afternoon.

"I thought he'd probably ruin his health or something. I was just worried about him."

Once she saw her husband was committed, she stood by him. She made sure, though, that when they drove places together, she sat behind the wheel.

Cindy Beson, interim director of East Pasco Meals on Wheels, wiped away tears as Lopez took the first bites of his post-fast meal. Before he dug in, he handed Beson a check for $356.80. Community Chapel Church of God will receive a check for $160.80. Lopez expects at least $80 in pledges to come in by the end of the month, he said.

"I know how much he sacrificed," Beson said later. "It's overwhelming."

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

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