“I can do it!”  came the feisty response from 76 year old Señora Ora when I offered to help her carry some bags up the 15 or so steps to her front door…

I got back into my car and chuckled to myself, “I know you can… you can do anything…!” and truly, honestly, Ora is one of the most inspiring people I’ve ever met!   I left the first visit I had with her vowing that this was a woman who had an incredible story that needed to be told.  Señora Ora came into my life when I told my new acquaintance Jill that I wanted to come out and help at the seniors luncheon hosted by Ora.  I asked for her address as I understood that volunteers meet at her home the morning of the lunch to prepare, but Jill thought it would be helpful for me to drive over so I would know exactly where to go.  I’ve met many people who prefer to do a practice drive to where they need or want to go so when it’s time to actually go to the event, appointment, etc., you have already done your getting lost!!  Lol!  So we went over for a visit and I discovered Señora Ora!  Her garden is stunning, a menagerie of hundreds of orchid plants, flowers of all kinds, fish, birds, turtles and dogs (all rescues, not surprisingly!).  I just love hydrangeas and hers are lush and healthy and blooming all shades of pink, purple, blue.  So I expressed my appreciation for how lovely they are – a few hours later, as I’m preparing to go, she’s handing me one of the most beautiful blue hydrangea plants to take home, right out of the garden.  Jill smiled and said, “that’s just Ora!”  We exchanged phone numbers and only a few days later she was phoning to invite my whole family to her home for lunch on the weekend.  “Do you like Thai food?”  Do we ever!!!  Ora is from Thailand and lived first in LA but then immigrated to Mexico almost 40 years ago.  She has offered cooking classes in Thai cuisine before and was talking about maybe offering some more in the fall – I told her that I would sign up for sure!  We had a lovely time and she had prepared an amazing meal.  During our visit she was chuckling over how tricky it was for her to figure out how much to feed 5 people – she usually cooks for 200+ so scaling it back was tough for her!   And then she sent us with all kinds of food to go… we said we wanted to try feeding the hummingbirds that we see so many of around our house, and she gave us an extra feeder she had in storage to try it out.  She just never stops doing and giving.  She is living an inspired life.

You know how the right words at the right time can make a world of difference?  Well, I believe that sometimes the universe sets you on the right path toward meeting the right people at just the right time…People who pull you out of yourself and your wallowing and inspire you to action, for the benefit of others.  Señora Ora is one such person.  She has opened my mind to some of the positive aspects of Mexico and offered me a way to participate in strengthening the lives of some of the people in my adopted country.  She states, “What more do I want to do with my life?”, feeling so fulfilled in her pursuit to feed others and bring joy to their lives.  Food, as a basic need, is unfortunately not always guaranteed.  Ora fills peoples tummies but also their souls – they feel cared about, remembered,  seen.  She has worked tirelessly for 16 years to feed the impoverished elderly of San Fernando as well as hundreds of street kids and orphans.  She works so hard.  She relies on the generosity of others and works to recruit the help she needs to ensure these much anticipated and appreciated deliveries of food can happen.  Her affiliation with Costco is something she often expresses appreciation for – and her efforts divert a lot of food from being wasted.  Each month Costco donates all bread, fruit and vegetable for her luncheon – anything that is within a few days of expiry is included.  We went to help out and wow, it is amazing how much food is not purchased in store… and is destined for the garbage.   16 years ago, after her husband passed away, she marched down to the church in San Fernando and found the priest and said, “I want to feed the people.”  Since then, every third Monday of the month she hosts a seniors luncheon that has burgeoned from around 20 people to over 200.   She really makes them feel special by giving a gift to each person celebrating a birthday and serves cake to everyone!  I have not participated yet in her Christmas luncheon for the seniors, but she has shared pictures of this special event – sometime in October she starts to ask each individual senior, “What would you like for Christmas?”   Then she sets to work collecting that one special gift that they would like.  Their wishes are simple and humble – a sweater, a blanket, a dress (sadly, she says that they only ask for a dress when they are going to die…)  One year someone asked for hearing aids… Ora checked into the cost and discovered that they are pretty pricey to buy here in Mexico City.  Then out of the blue she got a call from a friend who wondered if she needed hearing aids for “her seniors” as someone from Austria had donated a few pairs!!  Ora considers this a miracle; what are the chances that when she needed hearing aids someone from Austria would just happen to have some to donate?!   Not only does Ora feed them a beautiful turkey/ham Christmas dinner, but she also sends them home with a large hamper full of food and necessities – beans, rice, oil, toilet paper, soap, etc… The boxes are brightly wrapped and each individual gift is wrapped up in pretty paper and Christmas ribbons.  Can’t wait to be a part of that luncheon!

I took the kids and we participated for the first time in the latest luncheon in June.  Seeing Ora at work over the course of a week, I was just amazed by her drive and stamina and huge heart.   We met her at Costco on the Sunday before the lunch and separated out all the obviously rotten pieces of fruit/veg and loaded up our car and her van and took it all to her house.  We then unloaded it all to be sorted and packaged up in the morning by more volunteers – Ora always sends the seniors home with bags of fresh food for later. She made us a lovely lunch even with all the work she had been doing and still had to do… she makes you feel like nothing is impossible!  Then we set to work making over 500 meatballs for one of the dishes for the lunch the next day.  Mansell helped Ora mix up the meat with onion, garlic, egg, spices and rice (a Mexican thing – they put rice in their meatballs!) and then we all sat together and rolled and rolled and rolled – the meatballs had to be exactly the right size, so the quality control was pretty tight!  🙂   I am very thankful to Ora for welcoming the kids into the fun!  They were helpful wherever I took them – to prepare for the lunch as well as serving at the church.  We all had a terrific day!

Click here – Ora’s Foundation – to learn more about the difference Ora is making (and how you can help!)

PHOTO GALLERY:

Together with Ora (above) we separated out the good produce.  Only very few fruits and veg are thrown away.

Our car was packed to the gills – we made one trip back to Ora’s to drop off, then came back for another load – on this day, we filled our car twice plus her mini-van!  There was a lot of food, which was great, as there are a lot of people to feed!

We just managed to squeeze the kids in with the food!!

Mansell gave me a hard time about choosing to snap a pic of him struggling with this MUCHO heavy bowl of meatball meat instead of grabbing it from him!  Made for a great shot though (after which I did pocket the camera and help him carry it outside to the garden where we were gathered to roll them!)

The church where the luncheon is held in San Fernando.

Candles to make a wish, gifts and cake for those celebrating a Birthday in June!

Ora gave this man a new wheelchair and it was presented to him at the lunch – a very emotional moment.  Here he is being helped from his old chair to the new one.

Ora brings such joy to so many people.  She needs us to help her out in this amazing and important work that she does.