Most of us know that guests at St. Anthony Foundation have amazing stories. Not everyone realizes that some of our donors do, too. A woman who escaped from China during the early years of Communism has left St. Anthony’s $100,000.

Mary Westwood Hyndman was born in Shanghai and went to Catholic schools there, where she learned fluent English. She married in 1945. Four years later, the Communist Party took control of the city. She and her family endured 8 years of government surveillance and intermittent questioning. Finally, they decided to leave.

The family made the 18-day voyage to San Francisco in 1957, and never went back. The only time Mary left the U.S. again was a trip to London to visit the grave of her father, who had served in Shanghai under British rule. The refugee experience left its mark. Her family says she chose St. Anthony Foundation for her bequest partly because she was touched by our no-questions-asked service to immigrant families.

St. Anthony’s unites vastly different people in an unlikely community. Mary’s bequest will help us serve immigrant families from Mexico, Central America, and Southeast Asia. It will feed, clothe, and counsel people with mental and addictive illness who come from Mongolia, Korea, and California. It will pay for supportive housing for elderly women from China, Russia, the Philippines, and the Fillmore. All of these people are one community in St. Anthony Foundation; all will share in Mary Hyndman’s bequest.

Learn more about Planned Giving »

Tonight at 8 p.m. San Francisco volunteers will begin the city’s biennial count of its homeless residents. The survey will include the number of people living on the street, in shelters, and in other city funded programs. The last count of 6,377 was done in January of 2007.

The city is required to conduct this count every two years in order to receive federal assistance and uses the data collected to evaluate current programs.

After braving the wind and rain of a typical winter week in San Francisco, thousands of hungry diners will no doubt be back this week to partake in the cuisine at the St. Anthony Dining Room. Staff and volunteers work hard everyday to create healthy meals that will nourish many of the city’s poor and homeless. The menu during this final week of January includes choices like a traditional “Ham and Peas” dish and, for the more adventurous,  ”West Indian Beef.”

Jan 26 Mongolian Beef: Beef simmered with vegetables and mushrooms in an Asian Hoisin sauce.

Jan 27 Ham & Peas with Pasta: Ham and peas in a light cream sauce over pasta.

Jan 28 Turkey Posole: Turkey and hominy simmered with vegetables.

Jan 29 Red Beans and Rice: Red beans served in a bed of coconut rice.

Jan 30 West Indian Beef: A Caribbean flavored beef stew made with island spices.

Jan 31 Chef’s Choice

Please check back for weekly installments of On The Menu!

Change is certainly in the air with the new year. In case you haven’t noticed, St. Anthony Free Medical Clinic recently moved across the street into a brand new facility. The new clinic is larger, better designed and better equipped, and will enable us to treat an additional 5,000 patients per year. With increased seating capacity in our new pediatric waiting room, larger exam rooms, a private counseling room, and the greater capability to respond to medical emergencies, we will offer a calmer, more comfortable environment for our guests.

The change is certainly a welcome one for patients who will benefit from the new clinic’s expanded capacity and services, and for the staff who’ve been working out of a converted garage space for the past 50+ years. Our therapists, who have moved from a glorified broom closet to a large counseling room with windows, couldn’t be happier. All the clinic staff seem to share a collective feeling of excitement and enthusiasm about the new space. We are all looking forward to a future of hope and healing for the poor and homeless guests we serve.

The newly updated whitehouse.gov website has launched, and with it comes President Barack Obama’s strong push for community service.

Here’s an excerpt from the site:

“So today, I am asking you to roll up your sleeves and join in the work of remaking this nation. I pledge to you that government will do its part to open up more opportunities for citizens to participate. And in return, I ask you to play your part – to not just pitch in today, but to make an ongoing commitment that lasts far beyond one day, or even one presidency.”

Are you up to the challenge? You can start at home by volunteering or donating to St. Anthony Foundatation.

Last week St. Anthony diners enjoyed a variety of classic comfort dishes including turkey chili. lasagna, and mac & cheese. St. Anthony Dining Room serves 2,600 meals every day to San Francisco’s ever-growing poor and homeless population. The menu this week takes diners around the world with meals inspired by France, Morocco, Italy, and India.

Jan 19 MLK Day Cassoulet: A colorful casserole of beans slow-simmered with vegetables.

Jan 20 Chili Colorado: Pork braised with vegetables in a classic Mexican sauce.

Jan 21 Curried Turkey: An Indian style curry made with turkey.

Jan 22 Tortilla Casserole: A Tex-Mex style casserole made with beef, beans and cheese.

Jan 23 Pasta Marinara: Classic tomato sauce over pasta.

Jan 24 Beef Tagine: Braised beef in a Moroccan menu medley with a couscous complement.

Jan 25 Coq au Vin: A classic French dish of chicken marinated and braised.

Please check back for weekly installments of On The Menu!

Former San Francisco Giants pitcher Frank Williams died last week at the age of 50 from a heart attack.

In his prime Williams appeared in 333 games in the majors. He was 24-14 and 3.00 ERA during the span of his career.

In the later part of his life Frank, a man suffering with the disease of alcoholism, was appearing in homeless shelters and detox centers across the the United States and Canada.

A sad reminder that not even our heroes are immune to homelessness.

At holiday time, we at St. Anthony Foundation discover friends we never knew we had.

San Francisco Federal Credit Union was the first to sign up for our Christmas Curbside Donation Drive. After patiently standing just out of the rain waiting for donors to bring used clothing and canned food, and sorting clothing, dishes, and appliances in the back, they loaded our truck, bound for the program that distributes these things for free.

Employees from Wells Fargo and PG&E, who had volunteered with their colleagues this Fall or helped out last Christmas, came back to unload food and clothing from cars as they arrived and sort donations to go to four of our programs. The San Francisco Coalition for Responsible Growth covered half a dozen shifts, and when they caught up with the flow, marched off to the Clothing and Housewares Program to move mountains of clothing and free up work space.

It really helps St. Anthony’s when people volunteer or donate as a team. People who work together, share a religion, or socialize through an organized group, are more likely to talk about us to their friends and colleagues who couldn’t make it to a donation drive or volunteer event. Maybe that’s where all these new friends come from: old friends who spread the word.

Holidays at St. Anthony Foundation can be hectic endurance events. Now that we can stop for breath, we’re looking back with real pleasure at the generosity our friends showed during the festival of light.  

Before Thanksgiving, the Ramallah Club (well, actually the American Ramallah Federation and Education Fund) donated more than 4,000 pounds of turkey.  They arrived in the vendor’s truck promptly at 9:00 AM on the opening day of our Curbside Holiday Donation Drive and all but ended our turkey drive at the start. (But of course, we can always use the food.) Their message: Happy Holidays – The Palestinian American Community.

On Christmas Day, there were gift bags for everyone who came to eat in the Dining Room, donated and assembled by a team from Gymboree.  State Fund came to prepare something for the children. And several corporate teams, as well as our individual supporters, unloaded and sorted food and clothing as it arrived at our Curbside Drive.

Volunteers and donors all gave us the impression that they are just as concerned about their low-income neighbors in hard times as they are about themselves. It’s enough to restore anyone’s faith in people. 

Rabbi Alan Lew, of Congregation Beth Sholom, died suddenly on Monday.

Alan also was a longtime member of the Steering Committee at Religious Witness With Homeless People, and an eloquent, passionate advocate for San Franacisco’s most vulnerable and needy citizens.

Rabbi Lew represented the Jewish community at St. Anthony’s educational forum a few years back, doing the presentation on Social Justice in the Jewish Tradition.

His family’s loss is shared by the community of faith and conscience in the City of St. Francis.