Project Share Dinner

by Jasmine McBeath

Last Tuesday I spent the majority of my day chopping--onions, tomatoes, squash, mushrooms, and potatoes. As I'm still learning the art of cooking, I was more than happy to cut veggies and take orders from our head chef Kathy Chavez. And, under her fearless direction, we prepared food for 180 people at Project Share in a little under four hours.

It all began when one of our volunteers, Pat Zimmerman, asked if Oxfam could partner with a local organization to provide fresh produce to hungry people. Everyone thought applying the GROW Method was a great idea, so Pat and Kathy met with the director of Project Share the next week and learned more about the nonprofit that has been feeding hungry people in Albuquerque for almost thirty years. I was impressed to learn that Project Share is open six nights a week and serves nearly 40,000 meals a year. Plus, almost all their meals come from the generosity of churches and civic groups. 

The meeting was a great intro to Project Share. We still need to discuss further the idea of delivering produce on a regular basis and increasing community participation at the on-site garden. Long-term, we recognize it's important for Oxfam to partner in a way that raises awareness, educates, and empowers the community. For the time being though, we learned a lot about the site and had a great time preparing and serving dinner at Project Share on Tuesday.

We took on the challenge of creating a GROW meal from donations, farmers market produce, and a few choice meat and cheese items. We made enchiladas (more veggie than meat), rice, refried beans, calabacitas, papas, green chili, and served these with a side of watermelon and fresh green salad. 

Diners had nothing but compliments and many sang praises to the New Mexican flavors. Others appreciated the flowers in recycled glass bottles that decorated each table. I was grateful for everyone's help in the kitchen and the team effort that transformed so many raw ingredients into a wonderful meal.  I believe Pat said it best with, "It was hot, intensive work, but all involved came away with a full stomach and a little more joy in their hearts. We look forward to another foray into the battle against hunger."

Thank you!

Dinner Organizers/Coordinators

Kathy Chavez and Pat Zimmerman

Head Chef

Kathy Chavez

Project Share Employees

Ernest Jaramillo and Noel Aragon

And a shout out to our WONDERFUL volunteers!

Gloria

Jasmine

Jesse

Kalen

Kathy

LaVita

Pat Z.

Patricia B.

Tessa

Tomas

The Line: An Opportunity to Promote Dialogue About Poverty in America

The Line: An Opportunity to Promote Dialogue About Poverty in America

by Carlos Navarro
(reprinted from the Bread New Mexico blog)

Bread for the World is one of  five organizations promoting The Line a documentary from Emmy Award-winning producer Linda Midgett,  Sojourners is the main sponsor of this groundbreaking feature, which chronicles the new face of poverty in America. As Sojourners CEO Jim Wallis puts it, "more and more of our friends are in poverty — in the pews, in our workplaces — through no fault of their own, and they are slipping below the poverty level."

In addition to Sojourners and Bread, the three other sponsoring organizations are Christian Community Development Association, Oxfam America, and World Vision.

After you view the trailer below, you can take a few actions to become involved. You can acquire the DVD and host a screening.  "All you need is five friends to host a screening, and we'll send you a copy of the DVD and a discussion guide absolutely free!" said Sojourners.  One screening is scheduled in New Mexico, at the High Mesa Healing Center, just north of Ruidoso on Oct. 2 at 5:30 p.m. (For more information call 575-336-7777).

You can spread the word, and if you have a Twitter account you can also send a Tweet to presidential candidates.  Click on the home page and scroll down to the bottom.

Poverty in America — It's not what you think.

The Line documents the stories of people across the country living at or below the poverty line. They have goals. They have children. They work hard. They are people like you and me.

From Chicago's suburbs and west side to the Gulf Coast to North Carolina, millions of Americans are struggling every day to make it above The Line.

Stand Up Against Poverty

Hello everyone! On September 17th the Oxfam Action Corps: Albuquerque, NM is hosting a small gathering for the international Stand Up Against Poverty Day. Stand Up is about sending a message to our leaders (as they attend the United Nations for the Millennium Development Goals Review Summit) that we expect real action on the issue staggering world poverty and the promises made to end it. Planning for this event is still underway, and more details will be forthcoming. If you and/or your organization is interested in getting involved, please contact us at nmoxfamactioncorps@gmail.com. We would love your assistance and input.