Marcella Wrapped 2025 🎧 A Year of Impact

Marcella Wrapped 2025 🎧 A Year of Impact

Let’s review what happened in 2025—because it was an incredible year for the Marcella Foundation. Thanks to our amazing community, we delivered 71,947 pounds of food through FeedTahoe, shared 30,621 books through the Imagination Library, gifted 67 Kindles, activated 272 volunteers, partnered with 25 new food donors, awarded 10 scholarships, hosted five community events, and earned a Blue Ribbon Award. We also grew our Marcella team and expanded the reach of our core programs—ReadingPals, the Fannan Fellowship, FeedTahoe, and our community events. None of this would have been possible without the people who showed up, gave back, and believed in this mission. Here are some of our favorite highlights of 2025.

We achieved so many accomplishments this year, and every single one was made possible by the generosity of our supporters, volunteers, and partners.

This year, we were excited to welcome two amazing new full-time team members! Lily Summerville joined us as our FeedTahoe Coordinator and did an incredible job bringing our FeedTahoe one-year anniversary and Holiday Food Drive to life. Joseph Minnich relocated from Cleveland, Ohio to help launch South Lake Tahoe’s first community makerspace, with Joseph serving as our Entrepreneurship Lab Coordinator. Stay tuned for all the fun projects and events coming with Lily and Joseph in 2026!

Our Programs

ReadingPals

We’re excited to share that in 2025, our ReadingPals volunteer team grew to 44 amazing members, and we expanded our ReadingPals program to South Lake Tahoe High School volunteers—bringing even more books, support, and joy to young readers in our community. We can’t wait to see how this program will continue to grow in 2026!

Imagination Library

We delivered 30,621 books to kids ages 0–5 for free across El Dorado County! 📚 If you’d like your little ones to sign up, click here!

Booke Mode

BookMode program hosted a successful Kindle Giveaway at Sierra House Elementary School for second-grade students. Thanks to the hard work of volunteers and community partners, 70 students were given their very own Kindles, opening up new opportunities for reading and learning.

Fannan Fellowship

Through the Fannan Fellowship, we were proud to award 10 scholarships to South Lake Tahoe High School students, supporting the next generation of Tahoe leaders. This year’s recipients stood out for their authenticity, leadership, and passion for change. Congratulations to the 2025 Fannan Fellows: Scott Yamaoka, Alexandra Pickett, Mia Valenzuela, Damaris Ambriz, Juniper Brand, Kai McClain, Aubrey Iveland, Milan Riva, Luke Amato, and Mars Lopez!

FeedTahoe

In 2025, we celebrated one year of FeedTahoe and what an incredible year it was. We completed over 700 food rescues, hosted a Holiday Food Drive, and created care packages for the firefighters who bravely fought the wildfires in Southern California.

We also led and supported community-wide initiatives, including our Holiday Food Drive and our Second Turkey Drop with Kings Meats, providing 500 turkeys to families during the holidays. Through partnerships with some of the most generous local businesses, we rescued and delivered 71,947 pounds of food to families across Tahoe—food that otherwise would have ended up in the landfill.

Our Events

Community Enrichment Award

We were honored to receive the Blue Ribbon Award for Community Enrichment from the Tahoe Chamber, recognizing the impact of our programs and the strength of our community partnerships.

Mothers Day: Catch for a Cause

Our Mother’s Day “Catch For A Cause” Seafood Event was nothing short of amazing — and it's all thanks to YOU! Thank you everyone for participating! We were sold out a week before the event!

The Longest Table

the magic of The Longest Table 2025—a night that brought our South Lake Tahoe community together for connection, celebration, and a powerful cause. Thanks to your incredible generosity and energy, we raised over $20,000 in support of the South Lake Tahoe Family Resource Center (@slt_familyresource)—and we threw one unforgettable dance party while we were at it!

American Golf Championship Tournament

Our largest volunteer turnout of the year was at the American Golf Champion Tournament, where our community showed up in an incredible way to support our mission.

Celebrating One Year of FeedTahoe

In early October 2024, Sean, Melissa, and Kele completed the very first food rescues through the FeedTahoe app. What began as a small, hopeful idea quickly grew into a powerful community movement built on compassion, collaboration, and care.

In just one year, FeedTahoe has connected food donors, volunteers, and nonprofits to transform surplus food into nourishment, connection, and meaningful impact across our region by the end of the 2025 year we delivered 71,947 pounds of food. Watch this video that our FeedTahoe Coordinator Lily put together.

Holiday Food Drive

The Holiday Food Drive was a beautiful success, made possible by the incredible generosity of our community and the local businesses that opened their doors to host donation bins. Your kindness allowed us to extend the drive by an extra two weeks and reach even more families in need.

We were also honored to take part in our annual Second Turkey Drop with Kings Meats, helping provide 500 turkeys to families throughout our community. It was a truly meaningful way to wrap up 2025 and celebrate what we can accomplish together.

Tahoe is the best!

As we look back at 2025, we are filled with deep gratitude for everyone who made this year possible. Guided by our pillars — FEED, READ, and LEAD— and inspired by our message to THINK BIG and MAKE a DIFFERENCE, we truly created meaningful impact across our community.

From our Fannan Fellowship Scholars to our Reading Pals Program and Imagination Library, from every community event to every volunteer and sponsor, we cannot thank you enough. You are the heart of this work. Because of your generosity, time, and belief in this mission, FeedTahoe continues to grow, reach farther, and serve deeper than ever before.

Together, we are building a stronger, more connected community, and we are so excited for all that 2026 will bring. To learn more about our work click here and to become a click here to become a volunteer. 💛