A new reality show now casting its Miami pilot is looking for two female "stars" among the elite of professional fundraisers in Florida.
Rudy Socha, CEO of the nonprofit Wounded Nature -- Working Veterans, the force behind the show, has an ulterior motive. The environmentalist ex-Marine wants to give four women four days to raise $2 million -- all in aid of out-of-work veterans and a unique project in the public interest.
Why come to Florida to film? "Because in 2014 billions of dollars are going to be raised at the local, state and national levels for midterm elections," Socha explains.
"We shouldn't be filming a South Florida reality show dealing with wealth and fundraising without including at least one political fundraiser from each party."
According to the casting call, the show "Four Women -- Four Days and a Whole Lot of Money" will use the illusion of television to show four women meeting on a Monday morning with the intent to raise a total of $2 million by Friday to buy and sponsor a boat for Wounded Nature Working Veterans cleanup efforts.The woman who raises the most money during the week will get to name the boat.
Wounded Nature Working Veterans, an IRS-approved 501(c)(3) nonprofit headquartered in Charleston, S.C., has been in operation for two years, engaging in coastal cleanup, disaster relief, education and outreach and marine research.In a telephone interview with Sunshine State News, Socha explained why the project, like the organization, is so real and so important.
"I started Wounded Nature around the time of the BP oil spill. I volunteered during the cleanup, and at that time it became obvious that not all beaches, not all coastal areas, were going to get cleaned up," he said.
"I knew there were hundreds of miles of rural coastline and outer islands along the Eastern United States that never get touched by a cleanup crew. I know about the boaters' practice of 'sinking your empties.' It's something I campaign against -- leaving behind beer bottles, caps and plastic. Sea birds and marine mammals ingest the caps in particular and they stick in their intestines. It's a huge problem. The creatures end up starving to death."
Florida has more registered boats than any other eastern state, making the problem more acute in the Sunshine State, he said.
Without their own boat, Wounded Nature -- Working Veterans workers rely on donated houseboats, borrowed for short periods of time. Even the boat owners are volunteers. "We sign up volunteer vets ahead of schedule," Socha said. "Sometimes as many as 80 vets sign up, but when the time comes to go out, some have had other complications and can't make the trip. We always try to overbook for that reason."
Socha said veterans make the best workers. "They're used to working hard, nonstop almost, and they love the camaraderie."
Hopefully, he said, the show will fund a 54-foot V-hull houseboat built for saltwater use. "The large, flat sides make this vessel ideal to be skinned and used as a large, flat, floating billboard," he explained. "It will be conducting coastal cleanups and making public appearances from Maine to Key West."
Filming will take place in Miami in August. Arrangements can be made to film fundraisers' donors in other cities based on their availability. "We will work with the donor to accommodate their preference for filming at home or the office and any inclusion of family members," Socha said.
Plans are to shoot at least 100 hours of tape and edit it down to a one-hour show. CNBC, MSBC, OWN, Lifetime, WE and Bravo have already expressed interest in buying the pilot and the follow-on shows. Networks have told Socha that because the show involves American women asking wealthy individuals for money, there is also a huge overseas appetite for a show like this, which will show women in a positive light.
To read more about the show and about Wounded Nature -- Working Veterans, see the casting details here.If you want to participate, you can also contact Socha directly atrudy@woundednature.org, or440-452-1042.
And check out more about the nonprofit work of this organization and the board that governs it on its website,www.woundednature.org.
Reach Nancy Smith at nsmith@sunshinestatenews.com or at 228-282-2423.
