The Los Alamos Foundation is responding to the needs of our community during the pandemic. We are now operating the Emergency Food Pantry, building desks for students, providing services to our seniors, to name a few. At the bottom of this page, you will find all the details about our services and those who make it possible to serve our community.
We have partnered with many others to provide this safety net for our community and we want to acknowledge and thank everyone:
Santa Ynez Valley Foundation They have granted us seed money to get the Emergency Food Pantry off the ground. SYVF is a long time supporter of The Los Alamos Foundation and Summer in the Park. We can’t thank them enough for their faith in us!
Food bank of Santa Barbara County They provide us with the bulk of our staples. Each week they send us hundreds of pounds of canned goods, rice, beans, fruit and produce. They are really the heart of the Emergency food Pantry program.
Veggie Rescue Veggie Rescue cleans fields and sources fruits and vegetables from produce distributors which they then provide free of charge to the community. Each week we receive 1-2 deliveries of whatever is available. We hand these out at the school during lunch pick-up and also on Saturdays.
C.A.R.E. for Paws They come every Saturday to hand out dog and cat food and even chicken feed, free of charge. We all love our pets but in hard times pet food is one more added worry. C.A.R.E. for Paws eases that burden.
Bell’s Restaurant A local restaurant that has been providing high quality meals 4 days a week for distribution to seniors and other’s in need in Los Alamos. On Wednesdays this function falls to Pico. Our staff and volunteers pick up and deliver these meals.
St. Marks in the Valley They deliver soup and bread twice a week. These hearty, homemade soups, are much anticipated by those who receive them.
The Buellton Senior Center Meals on Wheels is available here in Los Alamos because of the Buellton Senior Center. We currently have about 15 seniors enrolled and we are hoping to expand this service soon.
Feed the Valley feeds Los Alamos! Local restaurants participating in Feed the Valley are providing 140 meals a week to our seniors and others in need. Thanks to Jesper Johansson and Christine Gallagher of Plenty on Bell, Daisy & Greg Ryan, Bells and Kali Kopley and Will Henry of Pico we are able to provide high quality, fresh and healthy meals 4 days a week to the people we serve. We encourage everyone to frequent these restaurants, support those who support Los Alamos!
We also want to thank Santa Barbara Foundation for their grant that allows us have paid employees in the field helping those in need access the services they need.
Finally, we owe a huge debt of gratitude to the community of Los Alamos and beyond. Individual contributions have made it possible to supplement the Foodbank food boxes with eggs, milk, bread, soaps, shampoos, baby wipes and more. Thank you for your generosity!
We offer an emergency food pantry, community outreach office hours, and resources for our seniors & families.
Want to join our team? We are currently looking for volunteers across our programming. If you are interested, please contact Monna Dingman at (805) 478-3934.
Please contact Monna Dingman at (805) 478-3934 for general inquiries about the foundation and donations. Please contact Laura Beas for community outreach at (805) 714-2390.
We are now operating the Emergency Food Pantry on Saturdays from 10:00 AM-11:30 AM at the Los Alamos Senior Center. Any person in need is invited to come. This is a drive through service, you will only give your name and the number of people in your home. There is no registration, nor are there financial documents required. C.A.R.E. 4 Paws is also on site to provide pet food for all your furry animals. Before you arrive on Saturday, please make space in the trunk of your car for your groceries. Masks are mandatory and must be worn at all times. Be considerate of the driveways of our neighbors. A crew member will ask you to put your window up as you approach the food distribution stations. 
Introducing Laura Beas, our new community outreach coordinator! Laura is a wonderful asset to our team. The Los Alamos Foundation is now the contact for 211 calls coming from our area. When we receive a call our ambassador, Laura, arranges to meet with the caller and provide food on an urgent basis. Laura is also our official translator. Do you need help filling out forms? Do you need a hot spot? Or what about help with tele-medicine calls? If so, Laura is here to help you with this and more. Laura will be holding office hours Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 1:00 – 3:00 appointments preferred, and Tuesday and Thursday from 5:30-6:30 by appointment only. To make an appointment call or text Laura at (805) 714-2390. 
The Los Alamos Foundation is happy to accommodate our seniors, so they too, can receive our services. For example, if you cannot make it to our food pantry, please let us know and we will coordinate a delivery for you. Also, seniors needing someone to grocery shop or pick-up prescriptions for them can call Laura for assistance at (805) 714-2390. Do not hesitate in contacting her for any help you may need.
A longstanding promise of our foundation is to meet the needs of our Los Alamos families the best we can. It came to our attention that many Los Alamos students, now troubleshooting distance learning, were in need of desks to do their schoolwork on. Our volunteers gathered to build desks for these children. We have built 50 desks! Furthermore, our community outreach coordinator, Laura is also available to help parents/guardians fill out school forms or find any other resources they need at this time. 
Our ability to serve Los Alamos is due to the dedication of our Los Alamos Foundation volunteers. This cohort of long-term residents as well as high school and college students, are driven to help their community during difficult times. You may have seen our volunteers hard at work on Saturday mornings, loading groceries into cars or directing traffic. Did you know that volunteers are also bagging groceries on Friday mornings and building desks for school children? Los Alamos is full of outstanding community helpers. The Los Alamos Foundation thanks our volunteers for all of their help! 
