Hi friend,
Voters love to ask me: “Eric, where does your passion for weather and meteorology come from?”
The truth is that growing up, I was terrified of storms. I love chasing after tornadoes and lightning now, but when I was younger, they terrified me. My one saving grace was my local weatherman, “TV Eric,” who explained what was happening during big storms, and helped me feel safe during them.
From those first few times watching “TV Eric,” I knew that I wanted to be “TV Eric,” so I too could help kids (and adults) during scary moments. At age 27, that dream came true when I became the Chief Meteorologist at WREX in Rockford.
Beyond just weather broadcasts, I continued to pay it forward by starting Project Tornado -- an initiative that brings meteorologists into schools to help kids learn about severe weather, educating over 5,000 students annually.
It’s funny to think about how “young Eric” would react to using a storm metaphor for this campaign. Over the years, my focus on storms has evolved from fear to a strange admiration. I’m proud that our campaign has grown from a few water droplets into a full fledged storm!
Friend, with our end of quarter deadline in just over one week, we have the opportunity to publicly demonstrate our storm’s strength. Contributing now, before our end of quarter deadline, has a greater impact as we accelerate our growth. Every dollar builds our storm larger, and any amount supplies the water droplets we need (and is greatly appreciated)!
Help us catch Joe McGraw flat-footed without his umbrella by making a contribution today.
I’m grateful to have your support and am excited to see how big we can build this storm while working together.
-Eric
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