Ruskin Fundraiser Is First Of 2 For Library Attack Victim

The community of Ruskin is pulling together for one of its own, a teenage girl who was severely beaten and now is blind and unable to walk, breathe or swallow on her own.

At least two fundraisers are set for this week: one tonight and one Saturday.

Melanie Morrison is executive director of the Ruskin Chamber of Commerce. She and a few others in the community have established a fund to help defray the medical costs for what will be long-term care for the 18-year-old East Bay High graduate who was nearly beaten to death outside Bloomingdale Regional Public Library in April and, according to deputies, raped.

The victim, whose name is not being published because of the nature of the offense, is well known in the community, Morrison said.

"She volunteered for us," Morrison said. "She helped out during the seafood festival and the Relay for Life."

A spaghetti dinner fundraiser is scheduled for 4 to 9 p.m. today at Ruskin Veterans of Foreign Wars post at 5120 N. U.S. 41. The cost is $5.

"It's going to be huge," Morrison said this morning. "We expect 400, 500, maybe 600 people tonight. We will have live entertainment, some high school bands, ThunderBug from the Tampa Bay Lightning and a silent auction. A shuttle bus will take people to another lot for the overflow parking."

There were a few notices in the newspaper and on television, she said. News of the fundraiser spread by word of mouth and e-mail, she said.

Morrison and a handful of others gathered two weeks ago and decided to host the dinner and set up the fund, she said.

She said the dinner was set for tonight because many of the teen's friends soon will leave for college and organizers wanted to include them.

A second fundraiser is scheduled for 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday at Valrico State Bank. The carwash is being organized by some of the Hillsborough County Fire Rescue firefighters and paramedics who responded to the call for help, said Carl Cash, organizer of the carwash and a former fire station volunteer.

Valrico State Bank is at U.S. 301 and Bloomingdale Avenue, Cash said.

Hillsborough County sheriff's deputies arrested Kendrick Morris, 16, and charged him with rape and aggravated battery of the teenager, who had stopped by the library to return books after hours. Morris remains in the Orient Road Jail. Bail has not been set.

Morrison said donations for the victim's family can be made at SunTrust banks to the Bloomingdale Library Attack Victim Fund.

For information, call Morrison at the Ruskin Chamber of Commerce, (813) 645-3808.