It’s almost second nature for Legacy Business Cultures’ Melody Costello to be the one person in the room to jump up and get the job done while others are looking the other way or finding excuses not to help. This was the case most recently when she signed up to volunteer to pack weekender food packages at Feeding Medina County.

Melody was one of 20 volunteers just two days before Thanksgiving who were taking time from their morning routines to help assemble 425 weekender food packs that would go to 11 different elementary schools in Medina County. These weekender packs provide nourishment when the children are home and aren’t at school to get the provided lunches and snacks.

“I really feel good about volunteering to do this knowing that a child won’t be going hungry over the long Thanksgiving weekend,” said Melody. “My job was to package the chicken noodle soup into the weekender pack as others down our human conveyor line were organized to add in the pasta, sauce, granola bars, canned vegetables, etc. that makes up the 7-pound pack.”

According to Melody, everything is really organized and everyone was working to get their job done when Sandy Calvert, the organization’s executive director, announced that they had just received 10 complete Thanksgiving dinners, which needed to be transported to Towslee and Applewood for the deserving families to pick up. Who could be available to do the drive with the dinners?

Most of the volunteers assembling the weekender packages were either too busy doing their jobs or really didn’t want to tackle the pre-holiday traffic to do the delivery.

Melody didn’t miss a beat and said to Sandy that she would gladly do the Thanksgiving dinner transport!

“We are truly blessed here,” said Sandy. “Every time I think there is a crisis that won’t be solved someone pops up to come to our rescue. This time, our angel was Melody!”

“I was happy to help in any way,” said Melody. “It’s a very sad thing when you realize that there are so many people who need food and parents who can’t afford to feed their kids. It was a good feeling to be able to help assemble the weekenders and also be able to be a part of making Thanksgiving dinner happen for those families by doing the delivery.”

In addition to Melody’s ongoing volunteerism at Feeding Medina County, which she does many times throughout the year, she is also on the committee organizing the upcoming Medina Spring Leadership Ball. She is elated that the proceeds from this gala dinner will go directly to support Feeding Medina County.

“I have been with this organization for two years and have seen it thrive and grow to help our community,” said Sandy. “It is wonderful that we have many volunteers like Melody to help and support us. But, it is also somewhat disconcerting that our program started with helping 25 children and now our weekender program helps over 400 children and also over 800 senior citizens who otherwise would go hungry. We rely on our volunteers and local corporate sponsors who donate in so many ways. I am thankful that with this support, we can make a difference in tackling the challenge of hunger.”

Read more about Melody’s commitment to the community.