Kitchen Angels   |    1222 Siler Road  Santa Fe, NM  87507   |    505.471.7780
Halo Headlines w/ Clouds
JANUARY 2020
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Thank you for your on-going dedication and support of Kitchen Angels and the community of Santa Fe.

  KA Color Logo
VOLUNTEER
MILESTONE
ANNIVERSARIES

1 Year
Barbara Greene
Courtney Best-Trujillo
Rebecca Best
Dick Markwood
Jonathan Saunders
Patricia Harrison
Lisa Lorang
 
 5 Years
Dan Koffman
Karl Zuercher

20 Years
Katharine Kagel
John Vavruska
Linda Dressman
 
25 Years
Diane Forsdale
John Forsdale
Laura Holt

IN MEMORIAM


Celebrating the lives of our volunteers and clients


Basilia V.
Elias R.  
Nancy P.  
Bill Thornton  
Jeffrey L. 
 

Bare branches of each tree 
on this chilly January morn 
look so cold so forlorn. 
Gray skies dip ever so low 
left from yesterday's dusting of snow. 
Yet in the heart of each tree 
waiting for each who wait to see 
new life as warm sun and breeze will blow, 
like magic, unlock springs sap to flow, 
buds, new leaves, then blooms will grow. 
~ Nelda Hartmann, January Morn


AnnouncementsAnnouncements

Save the Date - Angels Dine Out...
We can hardly believe it's the start of a new decade, and we're  already looking forward to April 23rd and our 22nd annual Angels Dine Out. Our target is 45 restaurants this year! If you would like to get your foot in the door as a volunteer ambassador for one of the restaurants that have participated in the past, please contact Lauren. If you know of a restaurant that you think might participate, please contact Dwayne. It's most certainly going to be another banner year.


We're pleased at the success of the glove-recycling program initiated back in September. It took two months but we filled and sent in our first box, thus keeping them out of the landfill. 

Most volunteers have transitioned to the new protocol quite well, but we still pull used gloves out of the trash bin. Please remember to do your part - rinse your gloves and pop them into the box. It couldn't be any easier! 

If you are interested in donating to the glove recycling program, please contact Dwayne. Thanks angels!


It's been a wonderful year at Kitchen Angels! We're still totaling our end-of-year numbers and making reports, but here are some stats you might like to know:

Our Spirit of Giving project produced 185 gift bags lovingly wrapped by 120 volunteers. We had 3 sponsors for the event: Enterprise Bank, Pebble Labs and Los Alamos National Laboratory.
Rob has been delivering meals--with love--for 27 years

In 2019 we served over 135,000 meals to 467 clients.

Of the clients, 23% either lived outside Santa Fe city limits or were visiting for medical care. We averaged approximately 24 new clients per month! Our frozen meal program is currently serving 16 people and covers a 1,805 square mile radius.

The numbers aren't final yet, but we may have topped 1,000  volunteers in 2019! Over half of those folks were active, weekly volunteers. And volunteers donated well over 32,500 hours of service during the year. Watch for the February Halo Headlines for the volunteer report.

Thanks to each of you for making this year the best ever!


Thank you for helping bring in food for our emergency pantry. There are no open pantries in Santa Fe on Fridays or weekends. A one-time donation can help someone make it through the weekend. Our pantry is nicely stocked now, and we are always able to accept unexpired peanut butter, tuna fish and rice and beans to ensure we can include protein in every bag. Many thanks to those who brought in food - it really does make a difference!
Tasty TidbitsTastyTidbits

Did you see the vegetarian Wellington that was cooked for the Christmas meal back in December? It was glorious and the clients loved it! For those of you looking to eat more veggies in 2020, it's a great recipe to try out. It takes some work, but will be a big hit at potlucks - even with meat-eating folks. Joe worked off this recipe and made it his own.


Each new year seems to be a time when many of us take stock of our lives and resolve to make changes in the coming year. Eating better is often on the top of most people's resolution list. It isn't easy to be disciplined throughout the year, so sometimes we need inspiration along the way. Here's a list of 75 Easy Food Resolutions to Help you Eat Better in the New Year. You can get inspiration to launch you on your healthy-eating path, or read this later in the year when your resolve is starting to slip. Cheers to eating better!


 
For those among us who consider themselves adventurous and are proud of that fact, there is a special day just for you! On January 12th you get to celebrate the Feast of Fabulous Wild Men Day. We can't pretend to know the origins of this holiday.  It sounds rather Bacchinalian, so wine and excess are probably involved. 
In honor of the Feast, here's a great site of holiday drinks  with which to celebrate and impress your friends. 

Interested in the latest drink trends for 2020? Check out  this article . And, if you are imbibing, it's important to eat something.  You can make that something extraordinary with this list of decadent dinners that are secretly good for you (remember those New Year's resolutions). Will you be traveling abroad on January 12, but still want to celebrate? This list of 50 Weird Foods to Try Before You Die is not for wimps. If you're squeamish, however, don't click on the link! 
Volunteer OpportunitiesVolunteerOpportunities 

We always welcome new volunteers! Here are our current opportunities:

Delivery Drivers (4:30 - 6:30pm)
  • Every other Monday, Route 1 (S. Rufina St.)
  • Thursday Driver, Route 19 (South Capitol)
  • Friday Driver, Route 19 (South Capitol)

Kitchen Volunteers  

  • Monday PM shift (1pm - 3pm)
  • Wednesday AM shift (10am - 12pm)
  • Wednesday PM shift (1pm - 3pm)
  • Friday PM shift (1pm - 3pm)

Substitute Volunteers

  • Delivery Subs M-F (4:30 - 6:30pm)
  • Delivery Prep M-F (2pm - 3:30pm)
  • Delivery Coordinators (3:30 - 5:30pm)

 

Upcoming Volunteer Orientations

 

Monday, January 6th from 11:30 - 1:00

Monday, January 20th from 11:30 - 1:00

 

Please tell people who may be interested to call Lauren at 471-7780  

 

Continuing EducationContinuingEducation  

It's a fact of life.  Having an active shooter plan is an important part of safety for businesses and schools. Almost all schools in the country currently perform active shooter drills so students know how to respond in those situations. Likewise, Kitchen Angels has an active shooter plan in each of our volunteer handbooks, but some of you might not have seen it.
 
"For an active shooter situation, volunteers are encouraged to first run and leave the facility quickly. Exit routes are posted throughout the building. If this is not possible, individuals may hide in place in the Volunteer Room and any other suitable place with minimal glass and no interior windows. Fighting back should be the last resort. For further information on active shooter protocols please review the information from the office of Homeland Security."
 
Please note that Kitchen Angels has been informed to keep the double doors from the lobby into the delivery room locked at all times to prevent a shooter having easy access to our volunteers. We know that this can be inconvenient for delivery coordinators and drivers. Please know that the procedure is for everyone's safety, and don't prop open the door during business hours.
 
Here is an informative video from the FBI on safety procedures during an active shooter situation:
 
RUN. HIDE. FIGHT.® Surviving an Active Shooter Event
RUN. HIDE. FIGHT.® Surviving an Active Shooter Event
We hope that we never find ourselves in a dangerous situation such as this, but it doesn't hurt to be prepared just in case.
 
Thank You, Thank You, Thank You! Thanks 


The Spirit of Giving project was tremendously successful, and our homebound clients received the gift bags in time for Christmas. We've had some tearful voice messages of clients who were overjoyed and overwhelmed by Kitchen Angels' generosity.

This was one voice message we received: "Thank you for the gifts. I opened only two but I needed coffee and there was the coffee from Ohori's! And I needed a new hat and there was a hat! With a pompom. I'm trying to not cry but I really needed it. I'm alone this holiday and . . . I used to help Kitchen Angels back in the day. Now, I'm on the other side a few years later. Sometimes, you need it. Thanks for that. Thanks for everything!"  
 
It's a small gesture but it can mean so much to those who are homebound and who might not have family with whom to celebrate. We couldn't have prepared so many holiday gift bags without the help from 120 volunteers - many of them visiting Kitchen Angels for the first time. Enterprise Bank sponsored the event, and showed up with many volunteers who helped wrap presents. Los Alamos National Laboratory sponsored one of our anchor gifts, and we had gift-wrapping volunteers from Wildflower International, Wells Fargo, Levi's, International Folk Art Market, AstraZeneca, and Pebble Labs. Spirit of Giving is a great way for us to let the wider community know about the service Kitchen Angels provides for our neighbors.
 
A great big word of thanks goes out to those who donated gifts for the project. We had coffee from Ohori's, note pads from All Print Graphics, and loads of other special items from various individuals and groups.
 
We simply can't thank you guys enough for the kindness.
 
Client Spotlight...
 
We received many thank you notes and calls this year after our clients began receiving their holiday gifts.
 
Client G.W. came on service after their health, already compromised by COPD, was impacted by pneumonia. G. has regularly expressed gratitude for the food and the delivery team.
 
"First of all, thank you for the healthful meals that are delivered to my home, helping me to shake off a dose of pneumonia, and to continue to gain my strength. Next, I want to thank you for my K.A. bag of gifts. ... I was stunned by the huge generosity of time and care and cost that I saw expressed in the gifts and their wrapping. I am so grateful ... the KA creed of compassion, joy, giving and more certainly has the 'Christmas Spirit'. Again, thank you." G.

Kitchen Angels | 505-471-7780 | info@kitchenangels.org | http://www.kitchenangels.org
1222 Siler Road
Santa Fe, NM 87507