By LINDA CHION KENNEY
The annual race for Riverview honorary mayor wraps up this month as the second year the nonpolitical, charity contest has been presented by the Riverview Woman’s Club.
In late 2022 the club stepped up when the Greater Riverview Chamber of Commerce, now known as the Central Hillsborough County Chamber of Commerce, stepped back from running the annual fundraiser designed to raise money and awareness for local nonprofits.
Brian Porter, the first mayor under the Riverview Woman’s Club watch, is getting set to hand the title over to the winner of this year’s race, which ends April 30. The candidate who raises the most money for charity is named the new mayor.
Shannon Keil, who runs The Regent in Riverview, is running on behalf of Mary & Martha House and the Black Dagger Hunt Club. She faces off against Amy Sams, principal of SouthShore Charter Academy, whose charities of choice are the Emergency Care Help Organization (ECHO) in Riverview and the K-8 charter school she runs in Riverview, at 11667 Big Bend Road.
According to Riverview Woman’s Club officials, the one-month race that ends April 30 aims to raise money as well for the club’s youth scholarship fund. The fund is one of several community-minded initiatives undertaken by the club, a nonprofit founded in 2012 by Donna Fore and Jeanne Burkeson.
Porter’s race in 2023, which ran from Feb. 1 through March 1, raised $13,620 and benefited IMPACT and My Warrior’s Place. Porter, of Florida Foam Factory, is the owner and operator of First Choice Events and Entertainment.
This year, Keil’s benefiting charities include Mary & Martha House in Ruskin, which aims to provide emergency transitional housing and support services to homeless women, victims of domestic violence and their dependent children.
Keils’ second charity, the Black Dagger Military Hunt Club, is an all-volunteer organization that provides shooting, hunting, fishing and other opportunities for Veterans and active-duty military, wounded and well. According to club officials, “We serve Veterans recovering from and learning to adjust to life with spinal cord injuries, traumatic brain injuries, loss of sight and post-traumatic stress.
As for Sams’ charities, the SouthShore Charter Academy, a member of Charter Schools USA, is a tuition-free public charter school governed by the Florida Charter Educational Foundation. School program and services include personalized learning plans and an enforced school uniform policy.
ECHO’s mission is to assist neighbors in crisis with emergency food and clothing and by offering life-stabilizing programs and resources. Established in Brandon in 1987, ECHO last year moved its Riverview operation into the old Riverview library at 10509 Riverview Drive. At both locations, and with plans over the next few years to open two more, including one in south Hillsborough County, the mission is to focus services on three areas of critical need: food and clothing; on-the-job training; and shelter, reliable transportation and childcare.
ECHO’s executive director, Eleanor Saunders, in February was named Riverview Citizen of the Year at the annual awards dinner held by the newly renamed Greater Riverview Chamber of Commerce.
For more on the Riverview honorary mayor races and to make last-minute donations, visit each candidate’s race page on Facebook. Connect to the pages at www.RiverviewWomansClub.org/.