Rich Sena

It’s difficult to imagine something good emerging from a global pandemic that divided families, impaled our economy and led to 1.2 million deaths. Divining inspiration from the deadliest disaster in American history couldn’t possibly be easy, especially when you almost ended up being one of the people to lose your life to COVID 19.

Yet Rich Sena has done just that. COVID came perilously close to adding Sena to that inglorious list, but now he’s adding hours to his United Way Suncoast volunteer work. After defying death and surviving five surgeries, including a lobectomy that took part of his lungs and impaired his ability to fully breathe, he breathed new life in his desire to serve the community.

A restaurant manager at the Opal Sands Resort in Clearwater Beach, he can no longer run road races, a lifelong passion, but in the race for life, he’s found giving back to be a winning formula.
“With a renewed look at life, I looked into the United Way's volunteer webpage and remembered how happy I was when I achieved 100 hours. That was a while ago and I am determined to help make the world a better place and give more than I take. So I decided to go for 200 hours.”

For his efforts, Sena has earned a spot in United Way Suncoast’s Volunteer Spotlight for December. The honors comes with dinner for two at Glory Days Sports Grill, which has locations in Hillsborough, Pinellas and Sarasota/Manatee.
Hitting the century mark in volunteer hours is all the more remarkable given the health challenges Sena has had to overcome. Being stricken by COVID came as a surprise, with doctors noting he was in great shape, didn’t smoke and had no pre-existing conditions.

“Covid didn’t seem to care,” Sena said. “Once it hit me, it wanted to do damage.”
Sena chronicled his struggles in his memoir COVID 19: My Battle With COVID and How I Survived. The experience has left him determined to live life to the fullest.

“I still love to go to the beach on my days off,” Sena said. “And since I am no longer able to run, I will walk or ride a bike 4-6 miles.”
He’s also aiming to surpass 200 volunteer hours, putting in time with Healthy Start Coalition, Feeding Tampa Bay’s Trinity Cafe and reading to the Boys & Girls Club – all projects he connected with through United Way Suncoast.

"Rich is the kind of volunteer every organization dreams of: reliable, enthusiastic, and willing to tackle any task we put in front of him. What truly sets Rich apart is his deep care for our community and his dedication to giving back, which are evident in everything he does. His versatility and dependability have made him an invaluable member of our volunteer team." Adds Julia Sharp from Healthy Start Coalition.

Sena finds inspiration in overcoming his health challenge, and in the fact people supported him and his family while he was growing up in South Florida.
“Those were the times I remember someone helping us and I will be forever grateful,” Sena said. “Now it's my turn to do the same.”

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