Idaly's Story | FriendsGiving

Idaly Donacio is the Director of Nevada Health Centers for The Women and Infant Program, also known as WIC, and has worked with WIC for 20 years. This Thanksgiving season, Idaly rallied her people to bring life to her community by packing FriendsGiving bags. "I feel that God has given me that willingness to serve. I'm passionate in serving and helping the community."

This year, Idaly received a call from Anthem as a continuation of their partnership saying, "Idaly, what you've been wanting to do for the community - definitely," and offered a grant for 90 bags. But it went even beyond the grant.

Her management team rallied, her staff got involved, clinics decided to put a bag together, her family from Texas contributed, the call center team for Nevada Health Centers partnered, she and her daughter packed their bags. Now, over 100 FriendsGiving bags are ready to be distributed to the beloved WIC community during the Thanksgiving season. 

During this process of rallying her people for generosity, Idaly has seen God at work. "I feel God has opened a lot of doors because [the Smith's store manager] didn't hesitate. Smith's right away said, 'We can make this happen. We'll even open a lane just for you.' That's how I started. For me, it was a blessing because I could have waited in line like anyone else, but they saw what I was doing."

For Idaly, the ability and opportunity to create space for so many people to encounter a generous God who has a heart for their city was one of the most valuable pieces of this project. "They might not know it, but I know deep inside, God has touched every single one of their hearts because the past couple of years, they have not hesitated in helping. 'We still want to be able to contribute like we've done in the past years.'"