SARASOTA -- First lady Michelle Obama was in town Thursday afternoon at a private lunch reception in a Sarasota home to promote President Barack Obama’s campaign and speak about his accomplishments and what is yet to come.

Her visit to the fundraising reception at Caren Lobo’s house in the 3100 block of Bay Shore Road was among the stops she made in Florida following campaign visits from Republican primary candidates. She was also in Tampa and Palm Beach on Thursday.

During her speech, Obama mentioned several of the president’s accomplishments while in office, including the end of the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy and the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act that will help women earn the same wages as men.

Obama also said that the country’s unemployment rate is the lowest it’s been in nearly three years, adding that the president has the belief that “hard work should pay off, that responsibility should be rewarded, and that everyone should get a fair shot.”

The first lady said the president reads letters mailed to him from Americans every night.

“And that is what he carries with him every single day,” she said. “It is our collection of struggles and hopes and dreams.”

Across the street from the burgundy-colored house where guests were scanned and searched before entering the reception, a crowd of spectators formed.

“All I want is a picture,” said Brittnay Finney, who stood outside the Lobo house as she waited for the first lady to arrive. “I want to meet her so bad.”

She and her co-workers closed their office on Whifield Avenue and drove to the house with hopes of catching a glimpse -- and maybe even a photo or two -- of the first lady.

But a Sarasota police officer soon told the crowd to leave the front of the house. “You’ve got about six minutes,” he told them.

They were moved two blocks away. The crowd soon totaled about a dozen people.

“What’s going on in the neighborhood?” asked a woman who was driving by.

“Michelle Obama,” the crowd answered.

“Oh,” she said. “Gotcha.”

Dan Lazo was among the crowd. “I think it’s amazing. You don’t get to see her every day,” he said.

Nicole Lagès, who lives nearby, showed up with a camera.

“I feel really privileged to have her come down the street from where I live,” she said, later joking that she “should have brought my pom poms.”

People in the crowd chatted among themselves, hoping the first lady would crack open a window and say a quick hello.

Obama arrived at about 1 p.m. About a dozen people waved and cheered. But when the SUV she was in passed by, she was looking the other way.

“I wish they (the driver) could have been going slower,” Finney said. “She looked so serious, though.”

At the reception, guests later said the menu included chicken curry salad, salmon and potatoes.

Before Obama spoke to the crowd, guests were able to take photographs and chat with her. Among the guests was Barbara A. Zdravecky, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood of Southwest and Central Florida. She spoke to Obama about women’s health care.

“She speaks from the heart,” said Zdravecky, adding that Obama touched on all the major issues affecting the country.

During the reception, Obama was “engaged” with the crowd, Zdravecky said. “She’s a real people person,” she added.

Jane Thame, a snowbird from Martha’s Vineyard, called Michelle Obama a “great orator.”

“The whole campaign is to have a vision for the future,” Thame said.

Thame also joked that she’s “ready to vote for her” if the first lady decides to run for office in the future.

Earlier on Thursday, Obama announced a new partnership with the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Goya Foods to promote “My Plate,” or, in Spanish, “Mi Plato,” a new food chart created by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, according to a White House media release. In the produce section of a Hispanic grocery store in Tampa, Obama encouraged Hispanic families to eat healthy, adding that nearly two out of five Hispanic children are obese or overweight.

-- Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.