Part of Mike Forster’s ashes are scattered at the source of the Nile River in Uganda. The county commissioner personally expressed this wish for his final resting place to his good friend, Pastor Tony Hammon, during a 2016 trip to the country.
Did he know how soon he was to pass? One likes to think not. The former Islamorada councilman — who was widely known for his acts of generosity, such as giving away meals after Hurricane Irma — died from COVID at age 60 in 2021.
But his life certainly serves as a testament to the spirit of “Be Like Mike” week, the now-annual initiative sponsored by the United Way of Collier and the Keys to honor Forster’s memory and inspire others to give back to the community that he loved so much.
And, in full transparency, a few days before he passed, he even gave this reporter a whole Key lime pie as a gift after an interview at his restaurant, Mangrove Mike’s, shoving it into our hands despite our protestations.
Forster and Hammon, who is a pastor at Island Community Church, visited the head of the Nile in the East African nation of Uganda during one of their four trips together. At that spot, which is located at the top of Lake Victoria, stands a statue of Mahatma Gandhi. The champion of peace is famous for this quote: “Our greatest ability as humans is not to change the world, but to change ourselves.”
To be clear, “Mangrove Mike” wasn’t perfect — like the rest of us, he had his peccadilloes.
“We’d still be guys and banter and kid each other,” Hammon said. But during their Uganda trips, he recalled, “I watched Mike go from ‘being Mike’ to being amazingly kind and generous.”
Hammon said the beginnings of their relationship were not so positive.
“We opposed one another on political issues. I thought, ‘Wow. We are not starting well.’”
But when Forster became his next-door neighbor, the two became close.
“We developed a deep friendship and love beyond anything political,” Hammon said. “Mike began to see pictures of my Uganda missions around 2011. He said, ‘I wanna go.’ … Next thing I knew, we were planning a trip together.”
Forster’s heart was for the Ugandan children, said Hammon. “No ifs, ands or buts about it. He probably would have brought back 100 kids in his luggage if he could have.”
CBT Construction general manager Matt Turk knew Forster, though not as well as Hammon. However, much like Forster, Turk felt a “tug” to join the pastor’s trips and did so this past June.
Turk described days of nonstop activity, from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m., during the 10-day mission, visiting locations that are part of a network of connections Hammon has made through his work with the International Association of Christian Colleges and Schools.
“The big part was to identify good stewardship,” Turk said. “We traveled to different schools. We visited with teachers and spent time with the kids.”
They even distributed cows to provide a cost-efficient way to give orphans milk.
Turk fixed equipment in a playground that Forster had founded in honor of his friend, the fisherman Rick Moeller. Turk noted that at one of the schools, staff were erecting a “Mike Forster cafeteria,” a fitting tribute to his support of food banks.
“You become affected,” said Turk. “It changes you, changes your heart. It makes you appreciate what you have in America. … It opened a door for me in a time in my life when I was looking for an answer.”
Perhaps this is what Forster found in Uganda — answers. And perhaps that is why he told Hammon one day that he’d like to have his ashes spread at that spot at the head of the Nile River.
So during that mid-June trip, Turk said, he and Hammon completed a different kind of mission.
“We took a boat, said a prayer and put Mike in the river.”
When asked how we can all “Be Like Mike,” Turk put it simply: “Serve each other and love each other.”
Visit UWCollierKeys.org/BeLikeMike to learn more about the various ways to get involved. For more information about Pastor Hammon’s upcoming Uganda trips, email hammon@bellsouth.net or call 305-393-6785.
