Communities' needs inspire man's charity work

It was the drought that first got Jim Tesone thinking about the people in Le Grand and Planada.

The drought affected unemployment numbers in the little towns, pushing Planada's numbers to 49 percent unemployed, and Le Grand up to the mid-30s.

Tesone, who is with Bible Christian Church in Le Grand, started working with a group of churches in the San Joaquin Valley that give away clothes and food.

Now, two Saturdays a month people line up to get the free items.

"We've been doing it for a year-and-a-half," Tesone said. "We live in a community with so much need."

Tesone said it isn't just the unemployed who show up for free clothes and food. "We have so many underemployed people here, too," he said.

The church spends about $1,000 a month on food from Merced's food bank, and also gets donations. This Saturday in Le Grand, Tesone said the bags of food will include fresh tomatoes and potatoes, canned corn, cashews, pasta, olives and salsa.

"We try to have different food every month," Tesone said.

And it's not just the church that helps out at the giveaway.

Melissa Kelly-Ortega, a program specialist with the Building Healthy Communities initiatives, will be at the church Saturday, helping out.

"Planada and Le Grand are two of the communities we are focusing on," Kelly-Ortega said. "We wanted to get as much information as we could from the people."

Kelly-Ortega said at the last giveaway, she asked people in Le Grand what would make their community healthier.

"There were people giving away healthy smoothies, and the master gardeners from Merced gave tomato and pepper plants," Kelly-Ortega said.

Carole Farnsworth, a Le Grand resident and one of those master gardeners, also helps out at the Saturday events.

"We have huge turnouts," Farnsworth said. "There are so many people in Le Grand who don't have vehicles. We need to go to the people to help."

Donated clothing is in abundance, Farnsworth said. "We make sure it's nice clothing, doesn't need mending or cleaning. And there is so much of it, it's truly a gift from God."

On most of the giveaway days, teachers are available for day care. Recipes in both Spanish and English are given out, and in the past, Golden Valley Health Center has come out and done blood pressure checks.

"I'm very happy doing this," said Tesone. "There is just so much need in these communities."

Reporter Carol Reiter can be reached at (209) 385-2486 or creiter@mercedsun-star.com.