Fish for America hooked on feeding rescue crews

Chuck Robinson was driving to work Sept. 13 when he heard something on the radio that stirred him. The Hard Rock Cafe in Manhattan needed food for the heroes working at Ground Zero.

Robinson, a salesman at Ideas For You, an ad specialties firm in Irvine, came up with an idea.

It was two days after the terrorist attacks. Robinson had been wondering what he could do to help. Now he knew. The avid fisherman who spends 75 days a year on the water had a plan.

"I knew I had a couple of freezers full of fish," Robinson said. "And I knew my friend, Earl Durham, had a couple, and we each knew other people who had freezers full of fish."

So Robinson, 47, of Anaheim, posted a request for fish donations on the Allcoast Sportfishing Web site, www.sport-fish-info.com, a tuned-in board fueled by thousands of dedicated recreational fishermen.

The response, truly phenomenal, spawned Fish For America.

By noon on Sept. 15, Robinson had 2,500 pounds of recreationally caught fish, and it soon grew to 5,000 pounds. He shipped 1,000 pounds of the fillets to New York City on Sept. 17, thanks to Allcoast member Pattie Doster and other generous employees at the Irvine FedEx. The fish arrived the next day, with Allcoast member Triet Le personally taking it from the FedEx building to the Hard Rock Cafe. That afternoon, rescue workers at Ground Zero feasted on choice cuts of albacore, yellowfin tuna, bluefin tuna, dorado, wahoo and mako shark.

"Nobody has said no," Robinson said. "There's just a tremendous force behind all this. We had the food, and they had the need. We got it done. Now we have to identify more needs."

Robinson has about 4,000 pounds of fillets left. It's being stored at Kent Williams' New Fishall Bait Co. He has put about $1,000 in cash donations in a trust fund. And much of the fish caught on a two-day charter on the Tracer that left Wednesday night out of Fisherman's Landing will be used to feed those who attend a fund-raiser Oct. 14 from 6 to 9 p.m. at the Hard Rock Cafe in Newport Beach. Durham and fellow Allcoast member Dimitri Peros, the charter master, are on Capt. Steve Thompson's Tracer getting more fish.

"This was a way for us to focus on something positive and do something where it was most needed," said Durham, 41, of Irvine, before boarding the Tracer on Wednesday at Fisherman's Landing. "It was amazing the way everything came together to get this done."

John Pasquale, sales manager at the Hard Rock Cafe in Manhattan, said the response from all over the country has been staggering. Too much, too soon, he said. He had to quit accepting food donations.

"The food came so fast we were overwhelmed," Pasquale said. "But what a special experience it was to physically hand food to these men and women. It was very rewarding. You could see the looks on their faces when they got the hot food. They really appreciated it."

Robinson said future shipments of fillets will go where they are most needed.

"We figure there are thousands of displaced people from the high rises who don't have anything good to eat," Robinson said. "We're trying to identify the gyms and shelters where people need food. We want to be in this for the long haul. This is only the second week. That's the purpose of the benefit. We want to have money to afford to send fish back there. Whatever money is raised will go to send the fish back. Whatever is left over we'll write a check to the New York City Firefighters Association Widow and Orphan Fund. I hope to generate $10,000 at the benefit on Oct. 14."

To reach Robinson, or to get information about the benefit on Oct. 14, call (714) 883-6670 or e-mail him at rdrrm8e@earthlink.net.

Copyright 2001 Union-Tribune Publishing Co.