Fishing for a Good Cause

By Colin Sheehan, RCS Reporter. 

Celebrating the roofing industry’s dedication to giving back in the season finale of Coffee Conversations. 

The final episode of Coffee Conversations celebrates the generous heart of the roofing industry and those who make a daily effort to give to those in need. RoofersCoffeeShop® welcomes Lynne Johnston of Earl W. Johnston Roofing LLC who has led efforts with the Roofing Contractors Association of South Florida (RCASF) for their annual fishing tournament which works to support Make-A-Wish Foundation. She and friends, Barry Birenbaum from ABC Supply and Jackie Perl from Make-A-Wish, discuss their partnership and how this local fishing tournament gained national appeal within the roofing industry. 

ABC Supply sponsored this episode of Coffee Conversations and is a huge supporter of the Make-A-Wish Foundation as well as Home For Our Troops. ABC Supply is helping the Coffee Shop highlight just one of the many amazing things taking place in the roofing industry today. 

Lynne started working for her husband’s roofing company, Earl W. Johnson Roofing, after hurricane Andrew struck South Florida in 1992. Since then, the company has increased its involvement with the community by joining RCASF where they connected with other roofing contractors and learned about the fishing tournament and its impact. 

"The way that the fishing tournament started 42 years ago, [was] just some roofers getting together to go fishing and blow off some steam,” said Lynne. “And what it's evolved into today is amazing.” 

Barry is a regular at the fishing tournament, making it to 39 out of the 42 fishing tournaments held. Barry is also on the Fishing Tournament Committee and the RCASF board of directors.  

“It's just so much fun to be there with all the contractors, with all the friends and family,” said Barry. "I just enjoy being involved. I'll not stop doing it...I can't explain how good it feels to give back and to be involved with an organization like the RCASF. I can't explain enough how good it feels and I'm just so glad that I'm here.” 

Lynne and Barry have both worked directly with Jackie Perl, one of the senior special events coordinators at Make-A-Wish Southern Florida. She has worked with members of RCASF throughout her entire seven years with Make-A-Wish, which has held a partnership with RCASF for over 11 years.  

“It honestly has evolved into a beautiful partnership where we work tirelessly with a wonderful group of committee members, such as Barry and Lynne, who are so passionate about changing lives of children in our community,” said Jackie. “It's so inspirational to know that people who don't work for the foundation are so passionate and work tirelessly. I mean, we are on these meetings every single month. Right when the tournament ends, we are right back again to start planning the next one.” 

This year’s tournament features a very special guest: a wish alumni whose wish was granted five years ago. She will share her story and how her wish impacted her life to the many Make-A-Wish sponsors  in attendance. 

“It's really full circle. It brings everybody back and she gets to stand in front of her sponsors and say five years ago, when you had this tournament, my wish was able to be granted. And I mean, I have chills just talking to you guys about it,” said Jackie. “I can only imagine that in group of over 375 people what that will be like.” 

Read, Listen or Watch the entire Coffee Conversations to learn more about the fishing tournament and its impact on Make-A-Wish Foundation.