Venessa Favela did not originally intend to work as a translator, but when the opportunity to pay kindness forward by serving her community presented itself, she was happy to take the leap.

Favela, a 2012 Great Bend High School graduate, has been serving as a translator for Great Bend City Manager Kendal Francis at his semi-regular community meetings, “Kendal’s Koffee,” since right after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in April 2020.

Her work as a translator actually began three years ago at what was then First Assembly of God Church, now Encounter Church, where she was approached by one of the pastors at the time, Jane Heeke, who asked her if she would be interested in translating for church-sponsored events.

Once word got out that she was working as a translator, she received requests from different individuals and organizations asking her if she would be willing to translate for more events. Francis decided bring in a translator as he geared a Koffee directly to the city’s Hispanic community.

Francis said at the time one of his primary goals was to do more to reach that growing segment of Great Bend’s population, something he felt the city had not been doing a good enough job of. It was work that Favela said she wanted to be a part of, as the city’s Hispanic community dealt with the fear and uncertainty of COVID-19.

“It was really hard for a community that does not know the language to understand what was going on, and what they needed to do,” she said. “It was like, ‘The world just shut down on us, and we don’t know why.’”

Francis described her as someone with a strong values and a servant’s heart. He admires her passion for serving the community.

“We’re blessed to have someone in our community that thinks and acts the way that she does,” he said. “She just wants to serve people.”

She experiences that in her daily work as a medical assistant at the Barton County Health Department. Much of her work since the pandemic’s onset has been dealing directly with the county’s COVID cases, including testing, investigating contacts, and sending out quarantine and isolation notices.

Paying it forward

Favela said the work she does in the community is simply a chance to pay forward the abundance of kindness she has received as her family worked to make a life in the community.

Favela, who was born in Texas, was a freshman in high school in 2008 when her family moved to Great Bend from Durango, Mexico. At the time, she said, no one in her family knew any English, so even navigating the simplest tasks was a daunting and intimidating task.

“It was hard to even open a gas bill or electric bill, and it was hard to find the right person who was willing to help us,” she said. Even going to the store and being able to ask for basic items was difficult. 

But a neighbor at the time, who she described as “an angel,” offered to help the family find their footing in the community. At that point, she said, she determined she would pay forward the kindness shown to her family.

“I know there’s more people in the same situation I was, and my family was, before,” she said.

As a student at Great Bend High School, though, Favela said she had several “amazing” teachers who helped her through English as a Second Language (ESL) classes and helped her navigate the difficult process of learning a new language. She was the first in her family to learn the new language.

“Everybody was willing to help, and they made the process smooth,” she said.

Because of the kindness she and her family were shown as they made the transition to their new home, Favela tries to take any opportunity she can to serve her adopted community anytime volunteers are needed. She said she’s also worked at Party in the Park, as well as city cleanup efforts.

And getting involved is a message she wants to share with the entire community. Since she relocated to Great Bend, she’s tried to take at least one mission trip per year. The experiences made her realize just how much good there was to be done in her own community. 

“COVID helped me understand that I don’t have to go to the other side of the world to do my part,” she said. “The struggles I’m going through might be my neighbor’s struggle, too.”

Once you see the rewards getting involved brings, Favela said it’s hard to stop. She was never content to sit back and watch someone else do the work.

She also works with a group helping build and strengthen Hispanic-owned businesses in Great Bend. She’s excited as she said she’s seen more people in the community step up and get involved as volunteers and become active in the workforce, something she said she hoped to promote all along, particularly in the Hispanic community.

“There’s a lot of work to do, we just need to get our hands in there,” she said. “It’s fun once you get to do it.”