Q & A with Kevin FitzGerald
The opiate crisis, school board candidates and the proposed St. Louis City-County merger are among the topics that you can learn and converse about over coffee and doughnuts at the Wednesday Night Breakfast Club started by Kevin FitzGerald. While the long-time Democratic political activist is known to many in St. Louis, the evening Breakfast Club is a new undertaking. The West County Democrats asked Kevin to share a bit more about it.
WCD: What got you started on the idea of a Wednesday Night Breakfast Club?
KF: As part of my 2018 campaign for Missouri’s 89th District, a group of us would meet Wednesday nights to write postcards. I lost the election and I knew I didn’t want to be a candidate who ran for office, lost and didn’t do anything else. We wanted to continue the Wednesday night tradition of getting together.
WCD: With this—however brief—lull between elections, what is the Breakfast Club up to?
KF: My idea is that we may work for Democratic causes and candidates. However, I also want to use it as a forum to present information about nonpartisan issues that affect the St. Louis area. My goal is for these evenings to be open and welcoming to all people as long as they’re not rude to other people.
WCD: The 2018 election was in November. You didn’t want to take a break?
KF: I’m an activist, before and now after running for office. There is a lot that can be done between elections—issues to learn about, candidates to support and opportunities to learn what other people think about what is going on in the St. Louis area.
WCD: We are never ones to pass up a doughnut, but why is it called the Wednesday Night Breakfast Club?
KF: The name comes from the movie “The Breakfast Club” where a group of young people found themselves in a room together consistently, and through this, a bond was formed. Understanding developed. That’s my dream: To bring together folks of all genders, sexual orientation, races, classes, and religions, if only for an evening, to delve into topics where they might not all share the same view.
WCD: Why meet in the evenings?
KF: First, United Food
and Commercial Workers Local 655 has generously given me access to its facility
on Wednesday evenings—there’s a large space for meetings, a set-up for speakers
and even the ability to show films. Also, in the evening, people may have more
time to travel longer distances. These meetings aren’t only for West County. I
encourage everyone: Take a drive, visit, meet a stranger and make a
friend.
WCD: A lot of us already attend meetings centered on politics, issues or coalitions that we’ve already settled into. Why add another meeting?
KF: I, too, go to a lot of meetings. With the Wednesday Night Breakfast Club, I am not setting out to compete with any other type of club—be it political township, Labor, or social justice group. This endeavor, which is in its infancy, is intended to compliment what you might be interested in.
WCD: Who are your early-in supporters?
KF: My postcard
writers got me thinking about it. However, this is purely a grassroots idea. I
have no backing from any organization. It’s my own time, energy and money
involved.
WCD: When I come to the Wednesday Night Breakfast Club, what should I bring?
KF:
An appetite for doughnuts, coffee, conversation and curiosity. I also try to
add on a request to support organizations that help—most often it is to bring
clean, gently used coats for adults and/or blankets. Recently, I requested donations for ALIVE, Alternatives to
Living in a Violent Environment, which changes lives affected by domestic
abuse.
WCD: Good ideas often never get out of the starting gate.
KF: We’ve had some early growing pains. Fifty people turned out for each of our first two meetings. Our third meeting—this being St. Louis—had weather issues and only 15 people came. But that’s OK. Another meeting, the speaker cancelled, but we’ll get past that.
WCD: Despite those hiccups, word is the conversations are great.
KF: I’m doing my best. We had an incredible discussion on the ballot initiative process with Richard Von Glahn—the organizing director of Missouri Jobs for Justice. We hosted Chad Sabora, founder of the Missouri Network for Opiate Reform, and Recovery. And Elad Gross, our Democratic candidate for Attorney General, attended as a guest.
WCD: What’s coming up for the Breakfast Club?
KF: Future guest speakers include workers rights attorney Ann Dalton; Pat Kelly, executive director of the Municipal League of Metro St. Louis; and an evening with both sides of the Better Together merger initiative. I want to devote an evening to the Missouri Mental Health Foundation—including speakers and a showing of the film “Not My Child,” which explores the opiate crisis. I envision a ‘candidates’ night’ with a report on the Missouri legislative session presented by a leading state legislator. There might even be an evening of Labor History Theater as the Wednesday Night Breakfast Club can go in many directions.
WCD: What’s your greatest concern about the Wednesday Night Breakfast Club?
KF: Getting out word that it exists. It may or may not work. I’m not a professional at this; I’m not focusing this group any future candidacy I may have. I hope to help Democratic candidates and causes. I’m hoping that candidates, people invested in causes, and people living in or working on behalf of challenged communities come to the Breakfast Club to help one another. And I hope these leaders will attend even when they, or their cause, are not the centerpiece of the meeting. We all live together, most especially in this time of a possible merger between cities and the county. We ain’t an island, the rivers aren’t walls, and bridges exist.
WCD: Give us the ‘when’ and ‘where.’
KF: As of yet, I cannot set the schedule in stone. The Wednesday Night Breakfast Club meets once or twice each month. I put notices on various group pages, and if you would please “Like” the “Elect Kevin FitzGerald” FB page that is a primary place I post notices. The meetings are held where the West County Democrats meet—at United Food & Commercial Workers, Local 655, 300 Weidman Road, Ballwin, Mo. We begin at 6:30 p.m. with time to mingle and network. The program starts about 7 p.m. and concludes by 9 p.m. However, I will keep the lights on as long as people care to stay.
West County Democrats: The WCD Facebook page will re-post information about the Wednesday Night Breakfast Club as we receive it from Kevin. You can contact Kevin at KevinFitz53@yahoo.com, twitter.com/KevinForMO89, and facebook.com/electkevinfitzgerald. You are also encouraged to share information, and/or this article, with other groups in the greater St. Louis area.