12
Community
Nov. 17 – 30, 2012
Restaurant helps food bank during holidays
www.SanTanSun.com
Volunteer Santas help seniors “Be a Santa to a Senior” kicks off its annual holiday campaign Sat., Nov. 17 at participating Walgreens in Chandler. Residents are encouraged to visit one of the stores, pick an ornament with the name and gift request of a senior, and return it unwrapped to the store between now and Mon., Dec. 10. A community gift-wrapping event, when hundreds of the presents will be wrapped, is Sun., Dec. 11. In the past eight years, the campaign has delivered more than 25,000 gifts to local needy seniors, many of whom face poverty and loneliness, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, which states that 9% of Americans 65 and older are living in poverty and 27% are widowed. The holiday program is sponsored by Home Instead Senior Care network. For more information, visit beasantatoasenior.com, or call 480-827-4343.
Adopt seniors for holidays TURKEY TIME: El Palacio’s kitchen staff prepares holiday favorites to benefit St. Mary’s Food Bank Community Kitchen this month. Submitted photo
With donations of green beans, turkeys and boxes of stuffing rolling in to St. Mary’s Food Bank Community Kitchen this month, El Palacio owner and head chef Anthony Serrano will demonstrate what can be made with these staples during the “Top Chef Thanksgiving Fundraiser” throughout November. Serrano will create affordable recipes for families using items available at the food bank this holiday, while teaching students in its training program how to prepare each dish on a budget. Recipes will include dishes like pumpkin soup, mango salsa stuffing, turkey and churro rolls. “My passion is cooking,” explains Serrano. “I love coming up with new recipes and dishes
to serve in my restaurant and to my family. I’m also a big fan of cooking-competition shows and wanted to challenge myself to be innovative in the kitchen while teaching others and supporting the community.” Throughout November, El Palacio will also donate $2 to St. Mary’s Food Bank Community Kitchen from the sale of every Thanksgiving menu item, which includes such specials as cranberry salad, Pipian chicken and its award-winning chocolate taco for dessert. Proceeds will help St. Mary’s provide foodservice training and life skills to low-income adults in the community as part of its 16-week program. Over the past 10 years, Community Kitchen provided more than 125,000 meals to the area’s hungry.
Wish lists for Gilbert’s low-income, homebound and disabled seniors, are ready to be picked up by SanTan Sun area residents during the fifth annual Adopt-A-Senior program, sponsored by the Gilbert Chamber of Commerce and the Gilbert Senior Center. An average list has items that cost $25 to purchase. Items that would be useful or appreciated by a senior are also needed in quantities of 50 or more to make up bags that will be distributed to lowincome seniors at a holiday party hosted by the Chamber. To request a wish list or donate a larger quantity of items, call Sara Clifton at 480-941-6350, ext. 115 or send an email to AdoptASenior@gilbertchamber.com. Also, a check to purchase gift cards for unfulfilled wish lists can be mailed to the Gilbert Chamber of Commerce, P.O. Box 527, Gilbert, AZ 85299.
Brighten a soldier’s holiday Give back to members of the Armed Forces, veterans and their families this holiday season by sending messages of support and holiday cheer through the American Red Cross’s Holiday Mail for Heroes program. Through Dec. 7, SanTan Sun residents can send cards to Holiday Mail for Heroes, P.O. Box 5456, Capitol Heights, MD 20791-5456. Pitney Bowes screens, packages and ships the cards, which are then sorted and delivered by Red Cross volunteers across the country and on overseas installations.
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