Its extraordinary people make RR great
Thank you, Rio Rancho. Looking back over the 30 years we have lived here, we see a community that has traveled amazing distances to become a truly remarkable city. We can thank the elected officials for all they have done to advance city services, build roads, keep an excellent public safety department and more. We can thank the business community for its dedication to the city and, even more, for its success bringing new businesses to town, making this a viable place to live. We can thank the school district for maintaining excellent schools and building the buildings that were so desperately needed.
But, for much of the good in Rio Rancho, we must thank the people — our friends, neighbors, fellow warriors and compassionate people. The people of Rio Rancho are amazing folks. They see a problem, they recognize a way to make things better, and they get to work and fight the battles to find solutions.
We believe these people are the true heroes of Rio Rancho. We applaud them. These ordinary people are, in effect, extraordinary. We believe Rio Rancho has a community filled with extraordinary people masquerading as ordinary folks.
Let’s look at what these extraordinary folks have done. Early on in Rio Rancho’s history, Sister Genevieve of the Felician Sisters Convent began collecting day-old bread from local businesses and distributing it, from the trunk of her car, to needy people. That endeavor became the St. Felix Pantry, which today serves about 1,000 families a week.
Similarly, in the late 1980s, Rio Rancho Presbyterian Church members began contributing to a food pantry to help the poor in Rio Rancho. That was the beginning of Storehouse West, a strong, active organization that helps feed many people in Sandoval County.
ReadWest, which provides literacy training to individuals in Rio Rancho and on Albuquerque’s West Side, has had a home in Rio Rancho for decades because people here have supported its vision.
It was also the extraordinary people of Rio Rancho who came together and gave their time and talents — and hearts and souls — to get Rio Rancho its own school district. At times it was like moving mountains, but it happened because this city’s people came together.
In more recent times, extraordinary folks built Haven House for victims of domestic abuse, the Galloping Grace Youth Ranch to help guide our children, and A Park Above, a park for people of all abilities. These are all extraordinary accomplishments.
And this doesn’t include the Rio Rancho Education Foundation and the Rio Rancho Community Foundation, both of which were established by community members to provide benefits to our city.
We haven’t even mentioned the individuals who quietly helped solve a problem just because they care and saw a problem they could fix. We left out many herculean efforts that various groups have taken on when help was needed; they are too numerous to mention.
We do know that extraordinary things happen in a city filled with extraordinary people. Our friends and neighbors saw problems that needed to be fixed and put their hearts and minds to it and made a difference. These differences didn’t come about because of government or organizations; they came about because of you.
And what an amazing difference the people of Rio Rancho have made in the lives of others.