Florida's "Milk Party" comes to Lowry Park Zoo in Tampa Thursday night at 6 p.m. to tout what organizers say is a non-partisan agenda promoting children's issues in the Sunshine State. It's part of a 17-city tour (organizers will be in St. Petersburg on September 20) to put an emphasis on issues affecting kids.
Organizers say it's all about educating political, business and civic leaders, and parents about the urgent need to significantly improve upon the way Florida treats its children.
The campaign is being led by David Lawrence, the former publisher of the Miami Herald who quit the paper in 1999 to work on childrens issues. In 2002 he was a prime organizer in passing the statewide constitutional amendment to provide high-quality pre-K availability for all 4 year olds. Sharing the platform tonight will be former Tampa Bay Buc Ryan Nece, who apparently is also active in children's issues.
You might recall that Lawrence and his cohorts announced a few weeks ago the first ever gubernatorial debate in Florida that would be focused on childrens issues, scheduled for Oct. 16 at the University of Miami. Democrat Alex Sink has already committed to that debate – Republican Rick Scott has not yet.
This article appears in Sep 16-22, 2010.