YAKIMA, Wash. – The Southwest Rotary of Yakima invited the community to join in packing shelf-stable meals for local food banks and pantries. The event took place in Yakima and aimed to pack 10,000 meals in just two hours.
However, the over 200 volunteers exceeded expectations by accomplishing the task in just over an hour.
“This is just a really quick, impactful and fun way that we can spend a couple of hours, you know, helping to give back,” said Nicole Medina, event chair for the Southwest Rotary.
The event, known as Generosity Feeds, welcomed people of all ages to package meals for those in need. Medina participated in a similar event eight years ago after moving to Yakima, was among the volunteers.
“That’s how [my family and I] we learned about Generosity Feeds. Years later, I became a Rotarian, and we believe in service above self,” said Medina. “I finally found an opportunity for me to pour my time into something that would be impactful to our community long term in multiple ways.”
Medina, though not originally from Yakima, considers it her home. She praised the Rotary Club’s efforts to support the community.
“Yakima is a really unique place in that it’s such a huge community, but it just feels really small, and we really do a good job of taking care of each other,” said Medina. “That is one thing I love about [not just] our Rotary Club specifically, but also just the community that we live in, and that when we do see a need, we do try to come together to help fill it.”
Medina described herself as a Rotarian dedicated to giving back. She emphasized the importance of community service, which she summed up in three words: time, talent, and treasure.
“You can be giving of your time and that some folks can show up. You know, do the heavy lifting, just being giving of their time. Right? There’s talent; there’s people who have different things marketing, you know, they have just different skill sets, right?” she said. “And then there’s treasures. There’s people who can help fund projects. There’s people who can write checks and keep the bills paid, keep the lights on, that kind of thing. There’s all different ways to give and there’s all different solutions that can be met in different ways. These are tough times, I feel like in general. If you can just go out and try and make someone this day, fill a need, just be the light if you can.”
Medina expressed hope that the partnership with Generosity Feeds Yakima could become an annual event in the community.
