People were so touched by the plight of those made suddenly homeless by the San Bruno explosion and firestorm last week that they made massive donations of used clothing, more than San Bruno could possibly use. San Bruno outreached two truckfulls of clothing to the Free Clothing Program for us to give to our guests. Thanks so much to all the donors. Your donations will help tide us over until the holiday season.

As Week of Caring continues, today is Diabetes Outlier’s Day at St. Anthony Free Medical Clinic — a day where we dedicate the entire afternoon solely to diabetic patients to make sure they are caught up on all their medical needs. Outliers are patients who have uncontrolled high blood sugar or who have not been in to fulfill a variety of preventative health checks like mental health visits, glaucoma screenings, or foot screenings. St. Anthony Free Medical Clinic has one of the most state of the art chronic care facilities in the San Francisco Tenderloin — and all of our patients can access this care free of charge.

Our podiatrist will be on site today screening diabetic patients for potentially limb-threatening foot problems. Diabetics are at high risk for foot complications such as nerve damage, foot ulcers, and poor circulation which, if left untreated, can lead to irreversible foot damage and in the worst cases amputation. Our patients do not have health insurance they often come in with untreated injuries or illnesses that have compromised their foot health and are in need of podiatric management and custom orthotics.

In response to the orthotic needs of our community, SuperFeet Orthotics has stepped up and made an incredibly generous commitment to our patients here at St. Anthony Free Medical Clinic. Every month, SuperFeet Orthotics donates standard and custom orthotics to The Clinic so that our patients have access to the medical supplies they need to maintain their mobility and stay healthy.

A big thank you to SuperFeet Orthotics for their tremendous donation, and to our volunteers who are here to help out Clinic staff during Week of Caring!

St. Anthony Scarving Artist Knitters will take a stand against the San Francisco Sit-Lie Ordinance (Prop L) which is on is also known by its supporters as the Civil Sidewalks proposition.

The ordinance would restrict sitting or lying on sidewalks citywide from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. Police officers must give a warning before they can give a citation and the ordinance cannot be used to restrict the people’s rights to free speech and peaceful assembly (if they have bought city permits). A single offense will result in \$100 ticket, while subsequent ones may result in 30 days in jail.

Join us for a “Flash Mob Knit” on Saturday, September 25th promptly at noon —we’ll be there and gone in  a flash! at the Powell St. turn-around—for an adventure in domestic activism!

When we knit together together we can improve the world one scarf at a time. Those who will receive our scarves as gifts will know that there are people in the world who care for others and that love not ignorance trimuphs.

St. Anthony’s has a whole new team of volunteers this week as part of the annual Week of Caring.  This year we’re welcoming nearly 200 volunteers from nine different companies including Wells Fargo, Ernst & Young, Chevron, BRE Properties, PriceWaterhouse Coopers, and Federal Reserve Bank, all rallying together to give back to the community.

During this week volunteers will help serve more than 13,000 meals in St. Anthony Dining Room, prepare clothes for 200 individuals and families at the Free Clothing Program and provide one-on-one guidance and support to folks coming in to learn computer skills in the Tenderloin Tech Lab.  We even have a group lending a hand in the Free Medical Clinic, (during one of our Diabetes Outliers Days, we’ll tell you more about that tomorrow).

We are so excited to be able to offer these bonding experiences to groups, and happy to have the extra hands to help out in our programs.  With the holidays coming up there will be plenty more projects and volunteer opportunities for groups, so if you’ve been trying to find an activity for your work, social or church group give St. Anthony’s a ring.

We’d love to have you.

What’s cooking this week at St. Anthony Dining Room!

Monday September 13th – Vegetable and Chic Pea Tagine
Moroccan spiced stew with spiced yogurt

Tuesday September 14th – Slow Cooked Pork Carnitas
With green rice, pinto beans, cabbage salad and pico de gallo

Wednesday September 15th – Chef’s Choice
With parmesan and roasted vegetables

Thursday, September 16th – Polenta Cake with a Mushroom and Olive Marinara
Over bow tie pasta with parmesan

Friday, September 17th – Louisiana Chicken Gumbo
With biscuits and coleslaw

Saturday, September 18th – Baked Turkey Ham and Vegetable Casserole
In an herb cream sauce

Sunday, September 19th – Pork Shoulder Ragu
Served with parmesan risotto and salad

Check back for weekly installments of On The Menu!

Yesterday, St. Anthony Foundation held its 8th Annual St. Anthony Awards, honoring individuals and organizations that have helped carry out the vision and mission of Fr. Alfred Boeddeker, to provide food, clothing and shelter to those in need with dignity and compassion.

Recipients of this year’s awards were Joe Cotchett for the Fr. Alfred Boeddeker Award, Catholic Healthcare West for the St. Anthony Spirit Award, and Eugene Marty for the Gateway Award

St. Anthony’s Executive Director Shari Roeseler, St. Anthony Free Medical Clinic Director Dr. Ana Valdes and CA Representative Jackie Speier. St. Anthony Foundation Executive Director Shari Roeseler with Hilton Community Affairs Manager Jo Licata

Fr. John Hardin and John Marty in the luncheon buffet line. Attendees of the Event ate the same meal that was being served at St. Anthony Dining Room Joe Cotchett with House Representative Ana Eshoo, Jonathan Moscone and Gina Moscone.

With Labor Day passing we can now hope that the season of fall will bring San Francisco some summer weather. One thing we know for certain as we move forward is the Tenderloin Tech Lab will be hosting it’s quarterly Tech Fair on Saturday, September 25th. Beginning this week you will see fliers and postings about the event. It is always a big hit that brings out a number of volunteers, the entire staff, and many residents of the Tenderloin.

This time around we are teaching 4 classes, an increase from the 2 classes we traditionally have taught. The classes will be on Facebook, Craigslist, Yola, and Google. We will have professionals who work at Yola teaching and we hope to get some more employees from the aforementioned companies to help teach the courses.

In addition we will have individuals from Reliatech to repair computers, free of charge. Normally they are able to diagnose and/or repair between 25-40 computers. Both space and time is limited, so be sure to sign up for your spot in advanced, for both computer repair and any classes you are interested in. You can do so by e-mailing us at frontdesk@tenderlointechnologylab.org or calling, 415-592-2766.

We look forward to seeing new faces at the Tenderloin Tech Lab, so save the date 9/25/2010 @ 10AM

St. Anthony’s Stitchers, a long time auxilery group of the Free Clothing Program at St. Anthony’s, just donated 500 hand knitted scarves for guests who eat at St. Anthony’s on Christmas Day. That’s 1/5 of our goal, but we’re still a long ways away from having enough to go around.

Interested in knitting or crocheting a scarf for one 2,500 of our homeless neighbors this Holiday Season? Click here to learn more and to pledge how many you think you’ll be able to contribute.

I hated to wake her up, but I wanted to be sure she’d be OK with being in the photo about to be taken. When she awoke she greeted me with a smile and a laugh. I asked her how she was doing and as he giggled and picked away at the muffin beside her.

“I’m great. God is so good.” She said with grin.

I was floored by her gratitude. Here was a beautiful young woman with no material goods to her name but the well worn and unwashed clothes on her yet rich with positivity and a spiritual connection.

She was there to get a tuberculosis (T.B.) test, as one is needed every 6 months to stay in San Francisco’s shelter programs. It was obvious that she hadn’t been getting enough rest, as she kept drifting in and out of consciousness during her visit to St. Anthony Free Medical Clinic.

“Can I get something saying I was here today for this test? I need it for the shelter.” She asked Medical Assistant Jaime Martinez. He got her all the proper documentation she would need and wished her well as she left the Clinic.

St. Anthony Free Medical Clinic began nearly 60 years ago in response to a T.B. outbreak in San Francisco. Almost 6 decades later we are meeting those needs, along with hundreds more, in concert with the city of San Francisco and our poor and homeless neighbors to keep our community alive and healthy.

What’s cooking this week at St. Anthony Dining Room!

Monday September 6th – Hot Dogs
Served with potato salad and coleslaw

Tuesday September 7th – Pork Sausage Cassoulet
St. Anthony’s Dining Room turns Iron Chef as we churn out dishes made from seasonal ingredients

Wednesday, September 8th – Pasta Bolognese
Over bow tie pasta with parmesan

Thursday, September 9th – Baked Chicken
With charmoula and a chic pea salad

Friday, September 10th – Turkey Ham Risotto
With carrots, peas and onions and parmesan cheese

Saturday, September 11th – Chef’s Choice
St. Anthony’s Dining Room turns Iron Chef as we churn out dishes made from seasonal ingredients

Sunday, September 12th – Chicken Salad Sandwich
Classic open face sandwich with three bean salad

Check back for weekly installments of On The Menu!