Los Banos Rotary Club seeks support for Colleen Menefee memorial library bench project

January is a time to look back as well as forward. After all, it was named for Janus, the Roman god who had two faces and 180-degree vision.

This month it’s appropriate to look back to people who contributed to our community and move forward to improve our city’s quality of life. The Los Banos Rotary club is doing that by adding a new feature to the front of the Merced County Library, Los Banos branch. To the right of the front entrance, the club will pour a concrete base and install two sturdy benches facing each other 6 feet apart.

Included will be a newly planted tree that would eventually shade the benches – all to remember and honor Colleen Menefee. This Rotary project would be a fitting memorial to Menefee, who passed away last year. She dedicated much of her life to libraries and to trees, as well as to school children and people in need.

Many people of all ages in Los Banos were touched by Menefee, including everyone in the Los Banos Rotary Club, where she was a member for 30 years. Menefee, in fact, was one of the first women to join the Rotary Club in Los Banos.

After gaining approval from both county and city officials, now the Rotary Club needs to raise the money to pay for the project, which will cost approximately $5,000 for materials. Rotarians are providing all the labor. The Rotary Club realizes that many people in Los Banos would like the chance to participate in honoring her memory, so the club is starting a fund drive this month to raise the money needed for the project, beginning now and continuing through February.

Those interested in donating can email a pledge anytime to Rotarian Dick Gerbi at gerbi04@sbcglobal.net. They can write their tax-deductible check, by Feb. 21, 2022, to the Westside Foundation, a 501c(3) nonprofit organization, and mail it to the Colleen Menefee Rotary Memorial, P.O. Box 19, Los Banos, CA 93635.

The benches, which are the major expense, were already ordered and are expected to arrive at the end February. The club hopes enough contributions come in to write a check to cover the cost of the benches by then.

Sharon Silva, the president of the Los Banos Rotary Club, said the club is honored to sponsor this project to honor a woman who truly exemplified the Rotary motto of “Service above Self.”

“Colleen inspired so many Rotarians, as well as other community members, for so many years,” Silva said. “Besides caring about books and trees, she cared about people in our community who don’t have enough to eat, which is why she spearheaded our Rotary Club’s Empty Bowls fundraiser.”

Many who volunteered with Menefee in the community spoke warmly of her efforts to help others in the Los Banos area.

“I could always depend on Colleen to help with any Rotary project or event,” said Toni Huarte, former president of the Los Banos Rotary Club. “I’m glad to participate in this project to honor her.”

I, too, felt Menefee’s impact, as we worked together on the Tree Commission, among the Friends of the Los Banos Library and in the Rotary Club. She was always thinking of new ways to help others and make our community a better place to live in.

I hope many people who were touched by Menefee contribute to the project in some way with donations of any amount. The Rotary Club made it easy to contribute, and all contributions are tax-deductible.

Those who donate will feel a special pride later this spring whenever they pass the benches in front of the library and see the marker with Menefee’s name on it. Perhaps they might even see someone in the shade of the newly planted tree sitting on a bench reading a library book.

The Rotary Club’s bench project is one way to remember the importance of making a difference in our community, just as Menefee did.

John Spevak wrote this for the Los Banos Enterprise. His email is john.spevak@gmail.com.

This story was originally published January 7, 2022 at 10:48 AM.