Donations to expand kitchen's capacity
The Laboratory's Community Programs Office (CPO) is partnering with Lowe's Home Improvement, Cook's Española Transit Mix, the Española Housing Authority, Habitat for Humanity, and San Martin de Porres Soup Kitchen to help the less fortunate in Northern New Mexico.
Expansion of the soup kitchen had its genesis in part from last year's Laboratory Holiday Drive, said Tim Martinez of CPO, project coordinator. Laboratory employees donated more than 400 food baskets, which included more than 20,000 pounds of food, for needy families in Northern New Mexico. Families in Los Alamos, Española, Pojoaque, Santa Fe, Chimayo, and the surrounding area were recipients of these food baskets.
Last year's donations overwhelmed the volunteers at the San Martin de Porres because [the kitchen] didn't have the space or the capacity to hold them. The program "Take a Turkey to Work," based on a similar giving campaign at Sandia, would also create the same issue of storage and capacity this year.
"We are hoping for bigger and better things for San Martin de Porres this coming year," Martinez said. The office is now raising money to help the soup kitchen increase storage capacity and build additional cold food storage. The goal is to raise $22,000 to pay for the expansion.
Lowe's Home Improvement donated $2,000 in cash as well as $2,500 in materials such as paint, lumber, shelving, and doors to help renovate and expand the soup kitchen. "It was a worthwhile donation. It's part of what Lowe's does, giving back to the community," says Pat Thomas, manager of Lowe's Home Improvement in Española.
Earlier this year a fundraiser sponsored by the Laboratory raised $7,000. Local banks in Española and Los Alamos also donated funds for the project.
"We were excited to partner with the Laboratory, the other businesses, and the housing authority to help our neighbors in need," said Thomas.
Cook's Española Transit Mix donated concrete for the cold food storage unit. Martin Martinez, a cement contractor from Velarde, volunteered to install the concrete flooring for the project. Other volunteers from Habitat for Humanity, including Lab employee Jerry Romero, are remodeling the soup kitchen. "The work is all being done on a volunteer basis so our back account remains intact," says Suzan Roybal of the San Martin de Porres Soup Kitchen. We are also working on grants to receive money for the walk-in freezer, she says.
"We still meet people that thank us and tell us their holiday was so special because of the gift they received from the soup kitchen," says Roybal. "The project did not stop here, thanks to the CPO and its eager staff. They researched the soup kitchens in Santa Fe and Albuquerque and decided they wanted us to have some events similar to theirs such as the annual "Souper Bowl."
"The Community Programs Office took us under their wing as we were preparing to give our holiday food baskets for the needy, and the results where tremendous," Roybal said.
"The San Martin de Porres has been on a roll. We cannot believe that in eight months we have been able to accomplish what we have not been able to do in the fifteen years of the soup kitchen's existence," says Roybal. "We are truly amazed and grateful to the generous efforts put forth be all the employees of the Laboratory."
"The Española Housing Authority is proud to work with San Martin de Porres and the Laboratory. Our work with the Lab has allowed us to move mountains, and that partnership has been invaluable to our success with the remodel," said Rick Vigil, director of the Española Housing Authority.
For more information on the program, contact the Community Programs Office at 5-4400 or write to community@lanl.gov by electronic mail.
San Martin de Porres Soup Kitchen is a service of the Ministerial Alliance, in association with the Apple Valley Senior Center. The kitchen provides hot lunches Monday through Fridays for those in need, along with food baskets to anyone referred by a church or state agency.
To contact San Martin de Porres, call Roybal at (505) 753-4956.
