Othello Rotary donations to feed children and prepare them for school
JOEL MARTIN | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 1 year AGO
From left: Othello Food Bank Manager and Rotarian Jose Garza, Othello Rotary Club President Don Burks, ESD 123 Site Manager Corina Flores, ESD 123 Administrator Tammy Buckingham, ESD 123 Support Specialist and Rotarian Maria Martinez and Rotary Club Secretary Sulema Martinez pass over the $4,500 donation that will supply weekend meals for 25 preschool children in Othello.
COURTESY PHOTO/OTHELLO ROTARY CLUB
Lighthouse Community Center Program Director Angela Kudsk, second from left, accepts $1,000 from Rotary Club President Don Burks, left, and Rotarians Maria Martinez, Sulema Martinez and Jose Garza. The money will purchase 100 backpacks filled with supplies to begin the school year.
Joel Martin has been with the Columbia Basin Herald for more than 25 years in a variety of roles and is the most-tenured employee in the building. Martin is a married father of eight and enjoys spending time with his children and his wife, Christina. He is passionate about the paper’s mission of informing the people of the Columbia Basin because he knows it is important to record the history of the communities the publication serves. | August 20, 2025 3:30 AM
OTHELLO — The Othello Rotary Club stepped up Thursday for school supplies and meals for school children, with donations to the Othello Food Bank and Lighthouse Community Center.
Club President Don Burks and several fellow Rotarians passed on more than $4,500 to the Othello Food Bank for its Bite 2 Go program.
“That's a program the school started because they were concerned that their younger children would go home and have very little to eat over the weekend,” Burks said.
In the Bite 2 Go program, school counselors identify children who live in homes where food isn’t always readily available, and the food bank sends them home with a care package of meals to get them through the weekend, explained Jose Garza, who’s both the manager of the food bank and a Rotary member. Those meals are paid for through sponsorships, to the tune of $180 per year for elementary school students, $288 per year for middle school students and $360 per year for high schoolers.
“That way (on) Monday when they come back to school, they're more ready for school and not looking for that next meal,” Garza said. “Sometimes it could be lunch time by the time they eat.”
The Othello Rotary Club has sponsored students for a couple of years now, Burks said, but this year the club will underwrite 25 preschool students identified by Educational Service District 123, which is based in Pasco and includes Othello. The Othello Food Bank will buy and package the meals using that money, Garza said, and then send it to the schools.
“We drop (it) off at the counselor's office, usually before Thursday … and then that way they will be able to give it to the students on Friday,” Garza said.
The other donation was $1,000 to Lighthouse Community Center, to purchase 100 backpacks full of school supplies, said Rotarian Sulema Martinez.
The donations are part of the Rotary Club’s mission, as one of the last service clubs in Othello, to support the community, Burks said.
“We look for ways to be useful, and then we try to make that happen,” he said.
Lighthouse Community Center Program Director Angela Kudsk, second from left, accepts $1,000 from Rotary Club President Don Burks, left, and Rotarians Maria Martinez, Sulema Martinez and Jose Garza. The money will purchase 100 backpacks filled with supplies to begin the school year.ARTICLES BY JOEL MARTIN
Quincy National Night Out scales down
QUINCY — Quincy’s National Night Out was more compact this year, which worked out well, said QPD Sgt. Joe Westby, who’s in charge of event planning for the Quincy Police Department. “National Night Out is a big event, and the fact that we’re able to shrink it up is like a breath of fresh air,” Westby said. “If you're always doing the same thing, it's kind of nice to switch things up and see how it works.” National Night Out took place Thursday on the block of C Street next to the police station, a shift from previous years when it was held at Lauzier Park. The smaller space meant fewer emergency vehicles for children to explore, but it also meant less walking for attendees. Grant County Fire District 5 brought a fire truck, and the Grant County Sheriff’s Office had a patrol boat. Renew, the Grant County behavioral health agency, had a booth and so did Quincy Partnership for Youth. Veterans Operation Creation sang the national anthem, and the Quincy Animal Shelter brought kittens that piled over each other making friends with passersby. As before, the QPD served grilled hot dogs.
Quincy Police retirements leave big shoes to fill
QUINCY — There are some big shoes to fill at the Quincy Police Department. “We’re losing 48 years of experience between them,” Quincy Police Chief Ryan Green said at the retirement party for Capt. Jorge Trujillo and Det. Damon Powell Thursday. Trujillo, who grew up in Sunnyside, has been with QPD for 19 years, he said, coming on as a patrol officer fresh out of the military. From there he served as a field training officer, a detective and finally captain. “I consider him my left-hand man,” Green said. “He runs the operations side of the house … He knows the agency very well, and he knows the community.” Trujillo has some projects around the house to tackle now that he’s retired, he said.
Big fun on a small scale
Wheat Land Communities’ Fair opens Thursday
RITZVILLE — The Wheat Land Communities’ Fair isn’t as big or as flashy as some of the county fairs around central Washington, but the folks who keep it going like it just the way it is. “It’s somewhere you can go and get an old-time traditional feeling, and you’re comfortable letting your kids roam the grounds and experience all that it has to offer,” said Board Member Lori Williams. “It’s more of a feeling than (one) specific thing,” The fair starts Thursday in Ritzville and runs through Sunday. Starting Friday, the 56th Ritzville Rodeo will take place alongside the fair at the rodeo grounds. This year the entertainment budget was expanded, Williams said, to be able to offer more fun that’s covered by the cost of admission. For the kids, there’s face painting, balloon art, Lego crafts, races, contests and games. Children can also ride on a little train towed around the fairgrounds behind a tractor.