For John Dalton and Michele Prince, it makes no sense that people living in the wealthiest country in the world don’t have enough to eat.

So it was without hesitation that they, and fellow members of the Waterville Rotary Club to which they belong, voted unanimously as part of an emergency measure to give $2,500 each to the Waterville Food Bank, Winslow Community Cupboard, Fairfield Interfaith Food Pantry and Oakland Food Pantry.

It was a somewhat unusual move because they dipped into the organization’s savings to do this. They raise money all year long for all sorts of charitable causes but as Dalton, chairman of Rotary’s Community Services Committee, said, they always go back to addressing food insecurity in their work. Dalton’s committee recommended Rotary board members approve the donation.

More and more people are going without, he said, and increasingly, it is those who work full-time jobs but can’t make ends meet.

Something is wrong with that picture, Dalton, a retired hospital CEO, insists.

“At the end of the day, food is our most basic need, after the air we breathe and the water we drink,” he said. “Food is about our survival, and how can those of us for whom that is not an issue stand by as adults and children go without food, literally? I mean, literally go without food on a daily basis? That’s embarrassing to me, as an American citizen.”

Prince, the Rotary club president, also understands the need after spending 33 years as chief operating officer for the nonprofit Kennebec Valley Community Action Program, which helps those who are vulnerable.

In addition to donating money to the food organizations, her club also held a food drive and donated food Wednesday to the Winslow cupboard.

“We know that changes are coming to SNAP,” she said. “I believe that some people will be impacted from that and not receive the benefits that they did before. It feels like a lot of instability, so I’m sure all of the food cupboards and pantries are going to continue to be challenged and have people reaching out for help. The potential for people to not have access to the SNAP program — that is really the catalyst for us to make this decision, looking to fill an urgent need that presented itself.”

Rotary is the oldest service organization in the world, founded in 1905, and its motto is “service above self,” Prince noted. But aside from the obligation she, Dalton and other Rotary members have to put that into practice, I sense a deeper, more personal dedication to the effort, and asked them about it.

“You hear that, ‘to whom much is given, much is required,'” Prince said. “I’ve always believed that I feel fortunate in my life in so many ways, and not everybody is fortunate. We have a responsibility to help when we can and in whatever way that we can.”

She paused, considering the wider picture.

“It’s like anything else. We’re only as good and we’re only as strong as our weakest or most vulnerable. If we’re not willing to help our most vulnerable neighbors, we’re not going to be a strong community.”

Dalton acknowledged the club reached out to me to help spread the word about its food bank donation, and encourage other organizations to follow suit.

“People have really been sensitive to the problem, but it’s there,” he said. “It’s huge.”

The local club has 45 members, 20-25 of whom attend its Monday noon meetings. The numbers have dwindled over time, from more than 100 just two decades ago. The club raises money to support youth programs, high school scholarships, community projects, homeless organizations, the local teen center, soup kitchen, literacy and even the opening of a youth center in Cameroon, a country in South Africa. It also sponsors youth clubs with the hope that members will learn service above self and eventually, join a Rotary club.

“We do a lot of cool things,” Dalton said. “Sometimes it’s packing backpacks for school supplies for 600 kids. We’ve taken on cleaning the road from Carter Memorial Bridge to Kennedy Memorial Drive twice a year.”

Amy Calder has been a Morning Sentinel reporter 37 years. Her columns appear here Sundays. She is the author of the book, “Comfort is an Old Barn,” a collection of her curated columns, published in 2023 by Islandport Press. She may be reached at [email protected]. For previous Reporting Aside columns, go to centralmaine.com.