Monongalia County commissioner Tom Bloom loves spreading the word about Pantry Plus More.
Now, as it turns out, he just might have to spread the mayo, too.
Or have it spread over him, rather.
That’s because of what he proclaimed following the WVU bowl game victory last week over North Carolina in Duke’s Mayo Bowl.
Said bowl has a postgame tradition that one has to love for its goofy altruism – even if one isn’t necessarily a fan of the sponsor’s signature product.
Here’s how it works: If you’re the winning coach, and you agree to it, Duke’s will dump a 4.5-gallon bucket of its mayo over your head for $10,000, which is then promptly donated to a charity of your choice.
“I’m gonna take it like a champ,” Mountaineers coach Neal Brown said, as he consented to the mayo bath to the benefit of the aforementioned food bank in Westover.
Bloom, who co-founded the pantry back during his days as a high school guidance counselor, said he appreciated the coach even more for it.
He even layered on a wager of his own, in the condiment-euphoria of it all.
“For that kind of money for Pantry Plus More,” Bloom said, “I’d take a bath in mayonnaise any day.”
Which is all the pantry’s board of directors needed to hear.
“Well, he did say it, right?” board president Julie Woolrine wondered aloud, as the idea of a new fundraiser suddenly found itself on the table knife.
As of 5 p.m. Tuesday, nine people had kicked in $257 on the way to that $10,000 goal and its payoff dunking of the commissioner in Duke’s for the cause.
“C’mon, you know you want to see Tom covered in mayo,” Woolrine said, laughing.
“Whether you love him or not,” fellow board member Lauren Metheny added.
“Anything that raises money for Pantry Plus More,” contributed Mary Beth Selby, who is on the pantry’s fundraising committee.
“And if it’s at Tom’s expense,” she added, with nary a pause, “that’s even better.”
Visit Pantry Plus More on Facebook or at https://www.pantryplusmore.org/ to find out how you can donate. There’s also a Venmo account.
The commissioner was chortling too, about being “volunteered” for the campaign.
“It is pretty funny,” Bloom said.
“Of course, I didn’t know anything about it, but what are you gonna do?”
And, while its nothing personal against Duke’s, he said, Bloom – by virtue of his culinary-civic upbringing – just isn’t a fan of the spread in question.
“You don’t use mayonnaise in Philly,” he said.
“You go with oil, garlic or mustard.”
Like a certain football coach in Morgantown, a certain county commissioner said he won’t mind one bit, however, if the yolk’s on him, should that campaign hit the $10,000 mark.
“I do need to call the coach,” he said.
“I need to see what he wore and what he used to get the mayonnaise off his body.”
There is one other thing: If Pantry Plus More makes goal, he wants WVU gridders Garrett Greene and Nick Malone to do the dunking honors.
“They’ve volunteered with us a lot,” he said. “This football team is such a big part of our community.”
Community and volunteerism are the Pantry Plus More watchwords, said Selby, who teaches first grade at Eastwood Elementary.
Bowl game or no, she said, the pantry’s core plank is to make sure area youngsters don’t go to bed with growling bellies.
“Food insecurity is everywhere,” she said. “Even in Mon County.”
