For Rotary, Saturday is an Epic Day of Service
- Philip Thibodeau
- 8 hours ago
- 3 min read
This Saturday morning, a team of dedicated volunteers from Southington Rotary Club and other community service groups will gather at Derynoski Elementary school to pack meals for the hungry.
They have lofty aim: to pack 25,000 meals. On the same day, 1,000 other Rotary clubs from across the world will also be performing ambitious feats of philanthropy such as housing renovation, environmental clean-up, or youth mentorship.
The scale of service that day will be truly epic – hence the name of the event, Rotary’s Epic Day of Service.
Joanne Alfieri, a long-time Rotary leader (and member of the Southington Outsider’s Board of Directors), joined us near the site of Saturday’s event to paint a fuller picture of the project and its history.
The Origins of Epic Day
“Epic Day of Service originated in 2022,” she said. “It was started by two district governors from Connecticut and Connecticut/Western Massachusetts: a man named Jeff Krause, and Joanne Alfieri,” she said, pointing discretely to herself.
“We started it because the Rotary International President suggested that clubs go out and do days of service in their communities. We thought, why not work at the level of our districts? We had over a 100 clubs that could do an epic day of service in their community.”
“That’s how it started. It has grown since then into 12 countries, with about 1,000 Rotary Clubs participating.”
“The goal we are working towards is to have 46,000 Rotary Clubs all do a service project on the same day. That way we can really show the impact of doing good in local communities and around the world.”
Saturday's Plan
“Our project in Southington has been a food-packing event,” Alfieri continued. “We have packed over 250,000 meals the past few years. On Saturday, we will be packing 25,000 meals. We need people to help us, because we can’t do this by ourselves. We work with the UNICO Club of Southington, the Lion’s Club of Southington, our high-school age members in the Southington High School Rotary Interact Club, and the Rotary Clubs of Bristol and of Plainville.”
“They donate and bring in volunteers. We couldn’t do this project without their help, so we are very grateful to them.”
“They donate money as well as time. We have to order the food. It’s first shipped to a gentleman in Terryville called Richard Dill, who has been running the Harvest Pack food-packing program for years. He will be here Saturday morning to bring all the food and all the equipment. He brings in a team to do the setup. When it’s done, we load all those boxes on his truck. It goes to a place in Terryville called the Orphan Grain Train. They distribute the food where it's needed.”
“We have done it for Ukraine twice, we have done it for Haiti, and last year we did it for Appalachia. Rotary does not dictate where the food goes. Instead it goes where Orphan Grain Train sees that there is the biggest need.”
“The meals can be shelved and be fine. The food we’ve been packing over the past few years is rice pilaf. There are several meals in one bag. If a family gets a bag of rice pilaf, it can probably feed four to six people. They open it and add water. It’s equivalent to something like Rice-A-Roni, one of those chicken-y rice dishes. We tell volunteers, take home a bag and cook it so you know what it’s like: it’s pretty good!”
Volunteers Welcome
“These food packing events are popular because they are fun. Community volunteers are absolutely welcome. Just come in and help us. Wouldn’t you like to make a meaningful difference? All you need are your hands and a good heart. Our club loves doing this, they really look forward to it.”
Epic Day of Service will be held in the Derynoski School Cafeteria at 8am, Saturday, May 16. You do not have to be a member of Rotary to participate; all are welcome.
