By LYN HAVAL
President
LA Cares

• • • • • “No one receives any salary—this is a calling of the heart to help others.” –Lyn Haval

Now that 2024 has come to a close, I would like to review the advantages of having LA Cares operating in Los Alamos County:

• In 2024 there were 1,071 households and 2,682 individuals who accessed our food distributions. (4th quarter was 283 households and 692 individuals.)
• In 2024 we gave $ 41,373 to 90 families for rent assistance. (4th quarter, $9,260 to 19 families)
• In 2024 we gave $ 41,195 to 85 families for utility assistance. (4th quarter $7,689 to 21 families.)
• We spend $3,000-$4,000 each month (for over 100 households) on fresh food items like eggs, bread, fruit, vegetables, meat, as well as cereal, juice, pet food, kid snacks, diapers, special needs dietary items. This is in addition to the shelf-stable items gathered from various food drives and from the Santa Fe Food Depot.

That adds up to well over $130,000 in expenditures each year. This is possible only through the generous donations of our supporters.

LA Cares has impacted the lives of many citizens of Los Alamos County! Without LA Cares some of these families would have gone hungry, been evicted, or had their lights and heat turned off. No one else is doing this work—for free! LA Cares is staffed 100% by volunteers. In 2024, 55 volunteers gave 4,495 hours of their time to help their neighbors in need. (Most of those hours are from our hard-working, dedicated Board of Directors.)

If we were to put a conservative dollar value of those hours of only $20 per hour, it would add up to a contribution of $89,900 put directly into our community. That’s not counting the many hours from groups who have organized canned food drives around town. Thank you! We depend on those food drives to stock our shelves.

The original mission of LA Cares, which began 30 years ago as “Homeless Services of Los Alamos”, was, and still is, to prevent homelessness. With every dollar we give for rent or utilities, we are helping a family keep a roof over their heads or to keep the lights and heat on. For every bag of groceries we give, our clients can supplement their food budget and stretch their dollars a bit farther. From one client: “I had a blip in my employment this year and your monthly food distribution got me through a rough patch. My job is back on track, so here’s a thank you for all you do!”

As you know, LA Cares is supported 100% by donations. Individuals, churches, companies, civic organizations, and schools are all very supportive of our goals. Donations such as these are essential in helping us to help people at risk of becoming homeless. Your donation goes to the purchase of fresh food for our monthly food distribution, or for rent or utility assistance for residents of Los Alamos County.  We have a very small overhead, since we are entirely staffed by volunteers. (A small amount of our budget, approximately 5%, goes to insurance, phone, copies, etc. but no one receives any salary—this is a calling of the heart to help others.)

2024 has been a very busy year for us, and we anticipate that in 2025 our services will be even more in demand. Thank you for your past support and thank you for your future participation through donations to make life a little easier for members of our community.