The Los Alamos Foundation responded to the needs of our community during the pandemic. We operated the Emergency Food Pantry, built desks for students, provided essential services to our seniors and families, and more. We partnered with many other organizations to provide this safety net for our community and we want to acknowledge and thank everyone:
Santa Ynez Valley Foundation: SYVF granted us seed money to get the Emergency Food Pantry off the ground. They are 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: Foodbank provided us with the bulk of our staples. Each week they sent us hundreds of pounds of canned goods, rice, beans, fruit and produce. They were really at the heart of the Emergency Food Pantry program.
Veggie Rescue: Veggie Rescue gleans fields and sources fruits and vegetables from produce distributors which they then provide free of charge to the community. Each week we received 1-2 deliveries of whatever produce was available. We handed out bags every week, sometimes twice a week. We also had use of the Veggie Rescue prototype solar cooled trailer to store produce and dairy prior to delivery.
C.A.R.E. for Paws: C.A.R.E. for paws came 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 eased that burden for so many of our families.
St. Marks in the Valley: St. Mark’s, through their Community Kitchen, delivered soup and bread twice a week. These hearty, homemade soups, were much anticipated & appreciated by those who received 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 provided and continue to provide 140 meals a week to our seniors and others in need. Thanks to Feed the Valley we are able to provide high quality restaurant meals to those in need here in Los Alamos.
We also want to thank Santa Barbara Foundation for their grant that allowed 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 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.
