Club official says freeze is ‘far from over'

DINUBA - Almost two months have passed since the freeze of 2007 destroyed $418 million worth of crops in Tulare County and dissipated jobs from thousands of fieldworkers, but a Porterville Rotarian is determined to not let it be forgotten.

Dr. Ramon Resa, a pediatrician, spearheads the Rotary Club of Porterville's Freeze Relief Committee. He takes time from his practice to speak to other clubs, and whoever will listen, about the importance of not forgetting.

“When I talk to groups it's to remind them that the impact of the freeze is far from being over,” Resa said Tuesday to the Dinuba Rotary Club. “I don't ask for donations, I tell my story and people are moved to do what they can. Getting donations for the farmworkers' relief is important.”

His way of reminding is by recounting the personal story of his life as a young farmworker who found himself and his family victimized by heavy rains that washed away the crops.

Resa grew up in Goshen, a shy young boy who stuttered so much it was difficult to understand him. His mother behaved like anything but a mother, he said, and he never knew who his father was. He and his four siblings had the same father, but still don't know who he is.

“My mother had five children by the time she was 20,” he told his audience. “Think about the dilemma that is, think about what the family secrets must be when you all have the same father but nobody will tell you who he is.”

Family shame evolved into lack of family support for education, he said. In second grade a teacher told him he had to go to college. It was a mandate he never forgot - it was the spark that ignited the fire that consumed him and fueled his desire to get an education.

His determination to become a physician was spawned by the death of an aunt, a woman who died because she was treated so deplorably by doctors - “because she was Mexican” - she vowed never to see another doctor. She died at home from cancer.

It was after her death that Resa decided medicine was for him, that maybe he could do something useful for the disenfranchised.

However, long before he became a graduate of the University of California, Santa Cruz and Irvine's school of medicine, Resa picked cotton in the fields of Goshen; he picked grapes and oranges, too.

He was in elementary school when the rains came and destroyed entire crops. Workers then, like workers today, were devastated.

“I remember,” he said. “I remember no crops, which meant no Christmas ... no food. We had food baskets for survival. I remember people donating food baskets and the beans and rice and flour. It saved us.”

His presentation touched the hearts of the Dinuba Noon Rotary Club. It was moved, seconded and the motion carried to bring baskets of beans and rice and flour to the next Rotary meeting. The items will be distributed to families left struggling as a result of the freeze.

Resa also touched the hearts of the Dinuba High School Leadership Class that was in attendance. Antonio Martinez, 17, listened intently.

“What he said impacted me because I can relate,” Martinez said. “I have some of the same problems today that he faced back then. But I have support from my principal and my teacher and my mom. My dad is never around, but my mom is always there for me. It was encouraging to hear his story.”

Robert Elledge, vice president and branch manager of the Bank of the Sierra's Dinuba office, was captivated by Resa's story and his dedication.

“His story is impactful,” he said. “I know he is a jewel of your community.”

“A jewel” that does not want anyone to forget the long-range effects of the January's freeze, and who is willing to pay the personal cost to keep his message before the public.

“I remind people of how beneficial it is to help,” Resa said. “And I want them to know that Rotarians are really trying to do something to help.”

Contact Anita Stackhouse-Hite at 784-5000, Ext. 1043, or astackhouse-hite@portervillerecorder.com.

This story was published in The Porterville Recorder on March 14, 2007