Glendora Rotary Packs 30,000 Meals

On Saturday morning, October 15th, The Rotary Club of Glendora spearheaded an effort to successfully package over 30,000 meals for the Shepherd’s Pantry food bank. In answer to the call for assistance, over 100 volunteers showed up to help with the project. The turnout was so good that additional production lines had to be set up so everyone could participate. What a significant problem to have!

Event picture: https://www.rotaryofglendora.org/meals

The coordinator of the event shared how the whole thing came together. The club was looking for a project where they could serve the people in Glendora and our neighboring cities. They agreed that there was no better way to do that than to work with Shepherd’s Pantry. Club members were aware of The Outreach Program, a non-profit 501 (c)(3) corporation that organizes food packaging events across the US and Canada, and made arrangements with them to run one here for us. As they’re known to do, Rotary provided the leadership necessary to make it happen. Franklin stated that to pull this off, The Outreach Program was to provide all of the raw materials, packaging equipment, and supplies. Rotary needed to come up with the money to pay for everything, a location to hold the event, and provide the manpower necessary to do the job.

Since Rotary couldn’t do that on its own, it enlisted the assistance of several partners. The Champion Foundation stepped in with seed money that jump-started the financial commitment needed. Glenkirk Church, the organization that initially founded the Pantry, generously made an event space available. Glendora Rotary rallied its club members and tapped into its network to come up with the manpower needed to get the job done. The Glendora High School Interact Club, Wells Fargo Advisors, Glenkirk Church members, and many friends and family were in force to help.

Club President Andrew Dilwicius shared that the project fits perfectly with the mission of the Rotary. “We’re a group of people that get together intending to provide the resources and leadership needed to make our community and the world a better place, and we try our best to have fun doing it. Those things definitely happened today.”

Rotary member and Glendora Mayor Pro-Tem and club member, Gary Boyer said that he was thrilled with the support received from the community and wanted to express his gratefulness towards the people of Glendora.

During the introductory remarks, the project coordinator, Dennis Franklin, stated that when people asked those who showed up what they did this weekend, they would be able to say, “I helped put together 30,000 meals for people in the community that need a hand. How cool is that!”

Jhoana Hirasuna, the CEO of Shepherd’s Pantry, was there for the entire event. Time and again, she expressed how incredibly thankful and excited she was about how this donation will help meet the needs of some of the most vulnerable people in our community. She couldn’t stop smiling as the Pantry’s truck was loaded with pallet loads of food.

For more information about The Rotary Club of Glendora, please visit https://RotaryofGlendora.org. The club also meets Tuesday Mornings at 8:00 a.m. at the Village Eatery if you want to join them.