Pasta feed helps meet Cambria couple’s need after double surgery

Oh, isn’t this new purse just so sweet? I just have to have these shoes to go with that dress I got the other day! I’m bored with these work shirts. I think I’ll give them away and get some new ones. Ugh! There’s a speck of dirt on my car. Now I’ve got to get the full detail on it done! I’ve got to run down and get that latest video game. I’d like a new kidney, please. OK, here is one of mine.

How often have you found yourself saying anything like any of the above? The last two statements … probably not so much. But for two of our neighbors, that is exactly the nature of their conversation a few months ago. Meet Manuel “Toro” Contreras and his wife, Natalia. They have three children, ages 12 to 18. I imagine that would make for difficult conversations around the breakfast table. However, given what everyone who knows them has said, they always have the most positive outlooks on life, no matter what.

Natalia became the donor. What bigger way can you say, “I love you” than to give a major organ to someone? They just had their surgeries Jan. 8. This means they are both out of work for three to four months and their children are still in school.

Here’s where you get to feel good about yourself.

You know you have to eat, and what is Cambria famous for other than amazing food? Helping each other in times of need. Please attend the Drive-Through Pasta Feed for this beautiful couple from 4 to 7 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 10 at the Cambria Veterans Memorial Building. The $10 ticket will include pasta, salad and bread. That will be a start. Good food, good cause, good vibes.

Besides the pasta feed, an account is set up for the five-member Contreras family at Heritage Oaks Bank in Cambria. Instead of two lattes, have one and save the difference to donate. How about this: Whatever you were going to spend on dessert (did you say your resolution was to lose weight?) put in the account. Just another way to frame it.

Toro has worked for Moonstone Beach Bar and Grill for 14 years, two jobs: as a prep cook and as a busser. Natalia has worked for 15 years as a maid at the Sea Otter Inn. Adrian, the oldest child, began working in 2013 to help support the family when his father’s kidneys failed. Mind you, his father had been on dialysis for seven years!

Isel, the 16-year old, also works when she can and watches her younger brother, Manuel, after school. He is involved in soccer, so their lives are all very full keeping up with school and keeping the family strong. And they are. But they could sure use a little help right now!

I mentioned spirit. John MacKinnon, owner of the restaurant, says Toro has a fantastic voice and sings all the time. “He has such a great gift that he shares with us, makes us smile, makes everyone feel at ease. A hard worker and just a great guy! We all want the best for he and his family!”

This is why we live here, folks. Come on out to the Pasta Feed, make a donation, make that deposit in the Bank of Love.

This story was originally published February 3, 2016 at 10:03 AM with the headline "Pasta feed helps meet Cambria couple’s need after double surgery."