Six Spanish-speakers stood outside St. Andrew's Children's Clinic joking about their diets. Francisco Javier Medina teased about tortillas as he opened up a small green plastic storage container full of marinating chicken breasts.

Medina is one of six volunteers who travel one day every month from Santa Ana, Sonora, Mexico to the clinic in Nogales, Ariz., to make food for the individuals that give their time and assistance to the children in need inside the clinic.

Because feeding so many volunteers is a fairly large task, Medina is accompanied by Jorge Otero, Carolina Medina, Teresa Ramirez, Sandra Luz Loza and Rigoberto Sanchez, who are all from Santa Ana’s El Desarollo Intergral de la Familia (DIF), a governmental program in place to help familiar and communal structures.

As part of the program, these volunteers understand the power of a helping hand – a main reason that attracted them into becoming a part of the clinic’s “task force” in September of last year.





No strangers to good deeds, the Santa Ana group has its fair share of responsibilities with DIF. Carolina Medina is a program coordinator and brings her two sons, Kevin and Jesus, to help out at the clinic when they’re not at school. Francisco Medina is the president of a youth program in which Kevin and Jesus participate.

“They’re such great kids,” Ramirez said.
The group left their town in Sonora and began their 100-kilometer journey north at 5 a.m., arriving at the clinic three hours later. Once settled, they wasted no time in getting the food prepared.



They began working around 9 a.m., grilling and chopping chicken and beef and having the salsa and tortillas ready to be served. The day’s menu consisted of more than just the grilled meats, but it had already been taken care of.

Inside, a group of volunteers from the church and community had prepared side dishes including rajas (sliced green chilies with cheese, cream, onions and seasonings), beans, and seafood cocktails.



The chicken had been marinating in a sauce made up of mustard, salt, pepper, garlic salt and soy sauce. The meats were bought by St. Andrew's Children's Clinic volunteers and cooked by the Santa Ana team.



“It’s therapeutic,” Ramirez said. “It’s a great stress reliever to do this.”

As the team sang Juan Gabriel songs, lunch was served. Soon, the volunteers came out of the church and were revived by the colorful and savory provisions to revive them and face the rest of their day.