Merced Food Bank receives hefty donation from youth sports team

The Merced County Food Bank received a generous surprise this holiday season, one that will help feed about 1,200 senior citizens across the county.

Atwater’s Buhach Colony Thunder Youth Football varsity team, coached by local chiropractor Erik Ekizian, gathered more than 1,600 pounds of food for the food bank at their first Sharing the Harvest with Grateful Hearts event last week.

The fundraising party, which took place at Vista Ranch and Cellars on Highway 140, also raised $7,500.

The team, made up of 35 eighth-grade boys, organized the event after donating 600 pounds of food the week before Thanksgiving. The team also passed on the idea to the Students with Aspiring Goals program, a local youth mentoring academy, which came up with an additional 430 pounds of food.

Bernadette Mello, the food bank’s director, said the donations will be used for the Senior Brown Bag program, which delivers groceries to seniors on a biweekly basis.

“I was overwhelmed with gratitude and humility,” Mello said about hearing about the donation. “I’ve been here for a year and a half, and I’ve just been waiting for the community to step up like Erik and his team did.”

Ekizian first heard about the food bank’s need for donations during a Merced Sunrise Rotary club meeting, where Mello was a guest speaker.

“Bernadette told us a story about a lady who said she could make it through a night because she had tortillas and cat food ... that really got to me,” Ekizian said. “A lot of these seniors have to choose between food and their medication; that shouldn’t be the case.”

When Ekizian shared the story with his youth football team, the students decided to take action. They made their first 600-pound donation in the course of a few days the same week they were preparing for their league’s title game.

“We won our game, but what I’m most proud of is how (the team) came together and took action,” Ekizian said. “These weren’t just teens worried about cellphones and their girlfriends; they stepped up and did something for their community.”

Ekizian also credits his friends and local business owners who supported the cause and continue to donate, dropping off bags of food at his Loughborough office.

“I think this shows that when there’s a need in the community, people come together,” Ekizian added.

Mello said the donations couldn’t have come at a better time. Although donations do tend to pick up during the holidays, there’s been a decline in the past few years.

“I know a lot of people would like to give, but people don’t have as much as they used to,” Mello said. “This came at a perfect time.”

Ekizian said he has sat down with event organizers at Vista Ranch and Cellars to discuss the possibility of making the food donation party an annual event.

“I’ve always said: If you just had one passionate person who would step up, so many others would follow by example,” Mello said, “and this is one of the most incredible examples I’ve ever seen.”

Those looking to make donations can go to the Merced County Food Bank’s website at www.mercedcountyfoodbank.org or call 209-726-3663.

This story was originally published December 20, 2014 at 11:09 PM with the headline "Merced Food Bank receives hefty donation from youth sports team."