San Martin de Porres Soup Kitchen
San Martin de Porres Soup Kitchen
Founded by three sisters, San Martin de Porres Soup Kitchen has been active in serving the needs of the poor and hungry in the Española Valley and surrounding communities since July of 1992. We are located in the center of the low-income housing community of Apple Valley. The clients we serve receive little or no additional food assistance so the meals and food boxes we provide are crucial to their basic needs.
Although our dining room facility is currently closed due to the pandemic, we continue to serve Sack Lunches at the door, five days a week, Monday through Friday. These include hot soups, casseroles, etc. We serve an average of 100-120 patrons per day (25 of these clients are in-ambulatory; these meals are delivered), and provide food boxes on a weekly basis to other needy families who are referred by a church or other partner agency. In addition, we provide perishable and non perishable goods to other Agencies so they can distribute as needed. These Agencies distribute food to Pueblos and other poor rural areas. We also distribute 550 Holiday Food Boxes annually.
In 2022, we provided a total 41,145 meals. In 2023, we had an increase of approximately 37% in our clientele and served a total of 56,330 meals. To meet the needs of our clients, we have made our daily menus easier for our volunteers to prepare and serve, and we have increased the number of emergency meals we have on-hand to use as a backup if we do not have enough meals for a specific day. We have also increased the number of our ready-to-go food boxes to have available as the requests come in. Filling the needs of the poor and hungry of the Española Valley and surrounding communities is an ongoing project and our main mission.
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
_____
The Santa Fe Community Foundation invited its nonprofit grantees to submit stories related to our January topic of Health & Human Services.
New Mexico Environmental Law Center
As the only public interest nonprofit law center in the state focused on environmental justice, New Mexico Environmental Law Center's client-directed work prioritizes environmental issues that disproportionately impact Indigenous, Black, Latinx, rural and low-income communities. We advocate for equitable and just environmental laws and policies that protect the health and wellbeing of all New Mexicans.
Randall Davey Audubon Center
The Randall Davey Audubon Center is Santa Fe’s nature center, with over 185 acres of habitat, trails, wildlife gardens, a historic estate, outdoor classrooms, and a new Nature Discovery Area. Their mission is to conserve birds and the places they need for the benefit of wildlife, nature, and people. We do this work through partnerships and on-the ground efforts in conservation, science, policy, and education.
Quivira Coalition
For over 25 years, Quivira Coalition has helped foster resiliency not only in New Mexico's working lands, but also in the people who steward the land and the communities which rely on their vitality. Like almost everything in agriculture and social movements, change has to start at the ground level, and for Quivira, that means prioritizing soil health to help combat the climate crisis.
