Rotary members helped distribute over 200 food boxes before the Health Fair

For several years, Ysleta Lutheran Mission Human Care (YLM) and the Zaragoza Rotary Club of El Paso (Rotary) have been working together to offer free healthcare to their Lower Valley communities. The RotaCare Clinic offers free basic healthcare, prescription refills, and basic lab draws without need for insurance or identification every Saturday morning, and for many who come to YLM for the Saturday morning Food Pantry Distribution, it’s an added blessing to be able to go see the doctor. In the last couple of months, the RotaCare Clinic has been giving free vaccines for both flu and Covid, along with the other healthcare options they offer.

People enjoyed delicious gorditas and enchiladas from a food truck during the Health Fair

“It’s a blessing to have the RotaCare Clinic right there,” Teri Muhr, who drives down from New Mexico every weekend to visit with her parents, shared, “I had a sinus infection and they saw me, gave me a prescription, and I did not have to worry about the cost of the visit.”

This past September, the Zaragoza Rotary Club organized a Health Fair hosted at the YLM campus right after the Food Pantry Distribution.  The Vitalant bus took up the front part of the parking lot, receiving over a dozen individuals willing to donate whole blood, platelets, or plasma.

UTEP and Texas Tech medical students hosted booths for free blood glucose and pressure checks

A food truck offered delicious enchiladas, gorditas, and burritos.  Different booths were set up along the street side of the parking lot where medical students from Texas Tech and UTEP did blood sugar and pressure checks, books for children were given out by RotaCare Clinic volunteers, glitter tattoos were offered by a Rotary member working with the Salvation Army, fresh popcorn from the San Pablo Lutheran Church members, and so much more.

Prizes were raffled throughout the event; one little boy walked away with a basket of treats and a big smile, while several adults won Walmart gift cards to cover groceries, gas, or other needed items. A local DJ provided music for most of the event, with Mariachi San Pablo performing several of their most popular songs for the last hour and a half.

Mariachi San Pablo shared the Good News of God’s love mariachi style

“I heard Mariachi San Pablo was going to play,” a woman who comes weekly to the Food Pantry Drive-Thru shared after returning from dropping off her food baskets at home, “I wasn’t able to come to their concert in June so I came because I love to hear them play.”

 With the Food Pantry Drive-Thru starting at 7:30 in the morning and the Health Fair set to start at 9:00am until 1:00pm, it was a blessing to have several members of the Rotary Club come early to help distribute food baskets outside the Food Warehouse before going to the main parking lot where they helped set up canopies, tables, and chairs for the Health Fair.

Together, the Rotary Club and YLM are reaching out to a community in need, providing much needed resources and opening doors for the sharing of God’s love to thousands of individuals.