Vanguard women’s wrestler, who volunteers at Costa Mesa Senior Center, thankful for connections made
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Lilly Avalos needs toughness as a junior on the Vanguard University women’s wrestling team.
Off the mat, the 20-year-old always seems to have a smile on her face.
That’s certainly true when she’s preparing and serving lunch at the Costa Mesa Senior Center up to five days a week, and up to five hours a day, as part of Meals on Wheels Orange County’s lunch cafe program.
She refers to a couple of her “Spanish-speaking tables.”
“I was taught in school,” explained Avalos, who grew up in the Central Valley town of Turlock. “I can converse pretty well, and they encourage me to practice my Spanish with them too. It’s really sweet.”
Jorge Rossette of Costa Mesa, 65, has been coming to the lunch cafe for a decade now and has developed a friendship with Avalos.
“She’s very dedicated, and everybody likes her,” Rossette said. “[Her Spanish is] getting better and better every time. Sometimes she stumbles and I say, ‘That’s OK, just keep going.’ That’s the best thing you can do.”
Avalos, a California College Corps fellow, has found that to be true. She is in her third year volunteering and earning valuable money for college.
College Corps fellows receive up to $10,000 an academic year after they complete 450 community service hours. Through the #CaliforniansForAll College Corps grant program, they are placed with community organizations working in education, climate action and food insecurity.
“My mom is a teacher, so I have a lot of work with kids, but I wanted to make sure that I was being challenged and grew in areas other than what I was confident in,” Avalos said. “I thought it would be cool to work with food.”
Meals on Wheels Orange County’s lunch cafe program is offered at 23 senior centers throughout central and north Orange County, said Darla Olson, the organization’s chief development officer. This includes locations in Costa Mesa, Huntington Beach and Newport Beach.
The program is funded in part through a grant for the California Department of Aging and administered by the Orange County Office on Aging.
Besides the lunch cafe program, Meals on Wheels also offers the “friendly visitors” program, where individuals discuss topics with an older adult, as well as meal delivery opportunities to home-bound seniors in the community.
More seniors come in for meals during the holidays, Olson said, when they could be feeling loneliness and isolation.
“We are grateful for Lilly’s partnership in our mission,” she said. “Intergenerational socialization helps lessen the effects of loneliness for older adults, while providing youth with a sense of responsibility and a connection to history.”
Avalos, who is a double major in psychology and criminal justice at Vanguard, said the work doesn’t feel like a job to her. She typically has gone above and beyond, volunteering more than 450 hours required per academic year.
She gets to the center as early as 8 a.m., helping make sure the food is properly prepped and stored before lunch is served at 11:30 a.m.
“My first impression was that it was going to be like a food truck or DoorDash, because of the ‘on wheels’ part,” Avalos said. “When I came here, I was like, ‘This is totally different from what I thought it was going to be.’ But the first day I came, I knew this was the site for me. They actually tried moving me to a different site, and I was like, ‘Nope, I want to stay here.’
“I like the work that I’m doing, and I like the people I’m working alongside.”
Avalos said she tells her College Corps directors that she feels like she has multiple grandparents at the senior center. Indeed, Rossette said that he’s seen pictures of her real family, and feels like he’s gotten to know her well.
What started out as a chance to earn some money to help get herself into college has evolved into something more.
“The money is just a bonus,” Avalos said. “If I were in it for the money, it wouldn’t be the same. I’m in it for so much more than that. Even with the school side of it, I’ve met so many friends and peers through that program that have helped me develop community here. Being able to go out into the world, the work that I do is helping, and I’m able to see that first-hand change. It’s really beautiful.”
