“Sometimes we think there is so much bad happening in the world we don’t think doing a small amount of good will make a difference. But, it does!” – Eliseo Medina

Leap

Once in a while you meet people that make you want to be better. Today I met such people. They’re named Eliseo, Chelsea and Ramona Medina.

Sometimes such people aren’t conspicuous, until you look deeper. It can be like looking at one of those dot-to-dot puzzles, before you connect the numbers with lines. It takes a while before you begin to get the whole picture. That’s what it’s like when meeting the Medina’s.

Eliseo and his wife Chelsea own Medina’s Tri Tip Company, a small, nondescript eatery. In fact, thousands of people drive past it without notice. Yet, once you meet the Medinas and taste their food, your vision of this little operation changes instantly.

“My mom, Ramona, moved us here ten years ago.” Eliseo said.

His mother was willing to move across the country, to a place where she had no work lined up, and didn’t know anyone just to change Eliseo’s life. She knew Eliseo needed a change of place, people and environment.

“I was getting into trouble constantly. The environment made it impossible for me to live the kind of life my mother hoped for me.” He explained.

Ramona wanted to live with people who shared her own core values. Gladly, their move facilitated the change Ramona yearned for.

“It hasn’t always been easy for us. In fact, recently my wife and I came to a cross roads where we didn’t know how to best provide for our family. Then, I thought of my mom and her wonderful food. So, I said to Chelsea, let’s open a restaurant, use my mom’s recipes and bring our family’s homemade taste here.”

They did. It was the second huge leap of faith in Eliseo’s life. Little did they know that the third leap was just ahead for them.

When COVID arrived, their customers started telling them that they couldn’t come in because they weren’t working. In fact, they didn’t have money to buy groceries either. So, the Medina’s began to give food to people in need.

“It was a hard time, because our own business was so far off.” Eliseo said.

Eliseo knew they needed to increase their own income so they could help more. So, he developed a new beef jerky business using their restaurant kitchen.

“Now, we have a new kitchen across the way from our restaurant. It’s solely dedicated to making beef jerky while growing our revenue, just as we’d hoped.” Eliseo said of their growing business and philanthropy.

Today, Christmas gifts were flowing out of the restaurant door, carried and delivered by local firefighters who had themselves volunteered to help. 

“Sometimes we think there is so much bad happening in the world we don’t think doing a small amount of good will make a difference. But, it does!” Eliseo said.

Will leap with the Medinas?