Contact: Rubina Cohen

 sffoodpolicy@gmail.com

Get Educated About the Hazards and Learn About Available Resources

(Santa Fe, NM, June 13, 2012)//  As fire season is upon us, the Santa Fe Food Policy Council wants to make residents of Santa Fe and surrounding regions, aware of food and other emergency resources available. Additionally, residents can take steps to prepare for a fire disaster by storing food and water.

Though the City and County are available in the event of a disaster, they are not fully prepared to provide food for a large number of people who might be affected by a fire or other disasters.  The City and County lack infrastructure and people to be able to respond to a large disaster.  Therefore, it is best to be prepared. One method that is suggested by the coalition called Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster Northern New Mexico Chapter (VOAD – NNM) is to develop a 72 hour emergency kit. Such a kit would have all the essentials for your family in order to survive disasters.  The kit would include items such as canned food or non perishable items, water, first aid items, flashlight, can opener, utensils, extra clothing, sleeping bags, an AM radio, and a utility knife.  For more information on items for your 72 hour emergency kit, you can visit the Santa Fe Food Policy Council website at www.santafefoodpolicy.org and go to the resources page to download a copy of the 72 hour emergency kit brochure.

The Food Depot is another excellent resource for emergency and disaster relief. The Food Depot provides relief in the form of food, water and other essential items. As a member of VOAD-NNM, they have access to other partner agencies that provide food and water during disasters but also, they have resources for other forms of aid. They are currently seeking donations in order to prepare for and help those in need during this fire season.  The items they are requesting include:

• Bottled water

• Handheld snacks such as granola and breakfast bars, trail mix, nuts, dried fruit

• Protein items such as peanut butter and beef jerky

• Canned meals such as stews, soups, pasta

• Personal care items such as deodorant, toothpaste/toothbrushes, bar soap, shampoo/conditioner, hand wipes

• Paper products such as toilet tissue, napkins, cups, plates, towels, plastic cutlery

• NO clothing, furniture or household items will be accepted

The Food Depot is located at 1222 Siler Rd. and they can be contacted by calling 505-471-1633.

Finally, our local government websites also house some important information for when disasters strike.  The website for the City of Santa Fe Emergency Management office is http://www.santafenm.gov/index.aspx?NID=1554. Here you can also retrieve the 72 hour emergency kit information, find out what the local hazards are besides fire hazards, download a family communications plan template, and find out how you can volunteer during a disaster.

The Santa Fe County Emergency Management division also has important information as well as links to several external resources.  The website is http://www.santafecountynm.gov/fire/emergency_management_division.

The contact for their office is Martin Vigil, 505-992-3072.

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About the Santa Fe Food Policy Council:

The Santa Fe Food Policy Council is a thirteen member council that was jointly appointed by the City and County of Santa Fe.  The mission of this council is to develop and promote policies that create and maintain a regional food system that nourishes all in a just and sustainable manner. Learn more by visiting our website at www.santafefoodpolicy.org.

Contact:  Sherry Hooper

505-471-1633, X10 or 505-577-0444

director@thefooddepot.org

(Northern New Mexico, May 30, 2012)   The Food Depot is gearing up for a severe fire season.  Staff and volunteers have begun identifying the potential needs of disaster responders and evacuees, and are launching efforts to collect items in advance of the fires.

“To enable The Food Depot to meet the requests of fire responders and those evacuated from their homes, we are beginning to schedule special disaster relief drives now,” said Executive Director Sherry Hooper.  “We hope to build up our supply so that we can more immediately support local response efforts.”

Religious organizations, individuals and businesses can get involved in these special disaster relief drives by calling The Food Depot at 471-1633, extension 12.  The Food Depot will provide bins for easy donation collection, delivering the bins at the beginning of the drive and picking up the donations once the drive ends.  Also, individuals can drop their donations off at the food bank, 1222 Siler Road in Santa Fe.  The Food Depot will set aside all donations collected and use only to meet disaster needs.  Should any items not be used for this fire season, the food bank will distribute the items through its 127 partner feeding programs to feed hungry New Mexicans.

Suggested donations include:

Bottled water
Handheld snacks such as granola and breakfast bars, trail mix, nuts, dried fruit
Protein items such as peanut butter and beef jerky
Canned meals such as stews, soups, pasta
Personal care items such as deodorant, toothpaste/toothbrushes, bar soap, shampoo/conditioner, hand wipes
Paper products such as toilet tissue, napkins, cups, plates, towels, plastic cutlery
NO clothing, furniture or household items will be accepted

The Food Depot is committed to ending hunger in Northern New Mexico.  As the food bank for nine Northern New Mexico counties, the Food Depot provides food to 120 not-for-profit agencies including emergency food pantries, hot meal programs, homeless shelters, youth programs, senior centers, homes for the mentally disabled and shelters for battered persons.  This service enables these agencies to stay focused on their primary missions such as sheltering homeless families, providing hot meals to the homebound and offering life skills development to youth. The food bank distributes an average of 300,000 pounds of food and household products each month, providing more than 400,000 meals to people in need – the most vulnerable of our community – children, seniors, working families and those in ill health.

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