Fifty Pounds of Gratitude

My report from the Sixth Annual Felis Fifty charity fitness event back on March 30th is simply this: against all odds it did not rain a single drop; while good friends and neighbors, elected officials and first-responders all showed up bringing support, good will, athletic skill and yes, lots and lots of canned goods for the food pantry at the Bloomfield United Way. Over 500 cans for those in need, from what I could see. That's a lot of generosity, and both the United Way and I are grateful beyond words.

I carried my fifty pounds, fifty yards fifty times as promised, and a good few athletes joined me. Others carried the cans that they brought, mobilizing the weight of their charity with true devotion. People carried all sorts of things; I even saw one friend carrying his daughter. On this great day, it's safe to say that 'some carried all, but all carried some.'

If this report is a tad late, it's just that with all the energy that goes into making even a small event like that happen, after it's over you find yourself just happily taking a back-seat to everything but work and paying bills. Normal stuff, like everyone else.

But the memory of all those friends, neighbors and businesses who stepped up to help calls out to you, because they are names that everyone should know. This then, is my list of gratitude:

to Tom and everyone at Budget Print Center for the beautiful posters, as well as all the shop-owners all over town who loaned me some window space for them,

and to Mike D. at Center Stage for the wonderful banner and the constant good-will,

to everyone at Brookdale Shop-Rite and Hot Bagels Abroad for once again donating bottled water, coffee and bagels for our charity champions,

to Mayor Mike Venezia and Councilmen Nick Joanow and Joe Lopez for showing up to give us a great sendoff on 'game day',

to Pete the Computer Geek, the Lunch Box Deli and Cafe, Bloomfield Health Foods, the Village Gourmet Deli, Gencarelli's Bakery, the Chalet Coffee Shop, Mastriano's Quality Market, Jerry's Broad Street Deli, Plaza Fitness, the El Matador Mexican Deli, and the Powerhouse Gym for taking part in our 'Best of Bloomfield' coupon program,

to PBA #32, Sisto Realty, and the Morales family for such outstanding generosity,

to the owners of Vinnie's, Angelo's, Prime Time Pizzeria, Senorita's, The Healing Zone Spa, NJ Fitness Factory for providing gift certificates for our fitness challenge winners,

and of course to Romi Korio of The Town Pub for the grand prize gift certificate for 'Most Cans Donated'. Once again the members of the Bloomfield Fire Dept. won, and once more they happily handed it off, this year to the members of the Special Olympics Bengals basketball teams. That should make for a real championship party commemorating their success in the State Finals last month!

Great thanks go out to ace videographer Pete Sammon and Baristanet journalist Sally Streeter for capturing it all for posterity!

You might think this the oddest thing, but I'm even thankful for the rotten weather! Of course the day before was an absolute deluge, and everybody was expecting Felis Fifty Sunday to be a complete washout also. With all the questions about 'rain-dates' and such, I was given the opportunity to really examine what the event was all about. I told people, "This is not some family fun-run. This is about helping hungry people survive. And if they can't call a 'rain-date’ on their hunger, neither will we." When I spoke to the director of the Bloomfield United Way the following morning, hearing about the people who were already benefitting from the donated food we delivered, I knew we'd made the right decision. And as I said before, it never really rained at all, until we'd all finished up for the day.

But for all of the thanks I have, my deepest gratitude is reserved first and foremost to Ginny Loggins for her boundless inspiration, Steve Moctezuma and all of my friends for their constant support, and to my sons Gordon and Noah for reminding me that the primary reason I do this every year is to teach them three essential lessons over and over: 1) that a man is worth more than his checkbook, 2) that there will always be people in greater need than us, and 3) all it really takes to help those in need is an idea inside of you, good friends surrounding you, a great community behind you, and a big ol' bag of sand.

Thanks again, Bloomfield. Stay strong.