Turkey Bowl

Two days prior to Thanksgiving, pro bowlers, sports celebrities and the community gathered together at Serra Bowl in Daly City to volunteer their time and skills as they bowled strikes for turkeys at the eleventh annual Turkey Bowl. This event raises money to buy turkeys to benefit the St. Anthony Dining Room as well as the North Peninsula Food Pantry & Dining Center of Daly City. Rex Golobic and his family – the owners of Serra Bowl – created this event to help feed the hungry over the holidays.  It has been successful since its very beginning and over 1,000 turkeys are contributed every year to help those in need.

Nancy Pelosi visits the Dining Room

On the day before Thanksgiving, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and her grandchildren graciously volunteered in our Dining Room. She has been donating her time to St. Anthony’s for many years and we are very thankful for her support. After serving, Pelosi reflected that “On Thanksgiving, we come together with family and friends to honor a spirit of gratitude: offering thanks for the blessings in our lives; giving back to the less fortunate in our communities.” Congresswoman Pelosi and her family captured the spirit of giving that we at St. Anthony’s cherish so much.

Turkey Carve

Later that day, recently re-elected Mayor Edwin Lee, Police Chief Greg Suhr, and Fire Chief Joanne Hayes-White joined St. Anthony Chefs to put the final touches on our 61^st Thanksgiving Day meal.  The Mayor, Chiefs, and uniformed members of the San Francisco Police and Fire Departments carved the last of 4,800 pounds of turkey and added the final garnish of whipped cream to our 4,000 pumpkin pies.

Thanksgiving Day

On Thanksgiving Day and all other days, St. Anthony’s opens its doors to any and all San Franciscans.  Craig Newmark, founder of Craigslist, joined over a hundred volunteers and thousands of guests to serve and enjoy a delicious meal prepared for 4,000.  As St. Anthony’s prepares to serve a growing number of needy residents, Executive Director Shari Roeseler commented, “These are difficult times.  At St. Anthony’s we see increasing numbers of people seeking services from all of our programs. The dining room alone saw a 15% jump in the number of guests in October.  Despite the challenges people of San Francisco are facing, I also see hope on a daily basis as donors, volunteers, and guests come together to celebrate the holiday season.” The Dining Room was full of hope and holiday cheer on Thanksgiving Day, as guests ate all the food off their plates, had second helpings of pumpkin pie, took more food home for leftovers, and walked out of St. Anthony’s with full stomachs and smiling faces.

With 4,800 pounds of turkey, 1,250 pounds of mashed potatoes, 1,250 pounds of yams, 1,000 pounds of stuffing, 4,000 individual pumpkin pies and more, this may have been one of the biggest thanksgiving meals you’ve ever seen!

In giving, we receive:  help others keep warm this winter by dropping off gently-worn coats or visiting our website to donate today.

Today, Diabetes Hands Foundation announced the donation of $75,000 to six diabetes charities that help people with diabetes in need in the United States and Latin America. The money was raised through a grassroots online diabetes awareness campaign called Big Blue Test, supported by Roche Diabetes Care.

The Big Blue Test takes place every November leading up to World Diabetes Day on Nov. 14. The campaign reinforces the importance of exercise in managing diabetes. Through Big Blue Test, Diabetes Hands Foundation (DHF) called on people with diabetes to test their blood sugar, get active for 14 minutes or more, test again, and share the results at Bigbluetest.org. In the last three years, exercise decreased participants’ blood sugar level between 15 and 20 percent.

Roche’s support enabled DHF to provide critical funding to six nonprofit organizations. Five of those nonprofits are focused on helping underserved areas with a high incidence of diabetes in the United States. An additional grant will support the International Diabetes Federation’s Life for a Child Programme for the organization’s work in Latin America. As a result of reaching 8,000 entries in the Big Blue Test, Diabetes Hands Foundation granted the following:

• $25,000 to International Diabetes Federation’s Life For a Child program.
• $10,000 to Moundville Medical Clinic, Tuscaloosa, Alabama
• $10,000 to LIFT For Teens/Walk and Play For Wellness in San Rafael, CA
• $10,000 to University of Colorado Denver
• $10,000 to St. Anthony Medical Clinic, St. Anthony Foundation in San Francisco, CA
• $10,000 to Pecos Valley Medical Center, Inc. Pecos NM

“Because of these six extraordinary charities, thousands of people will have the insulin, supplies and care they need to survive,” said Manny Hernandez, founder of TuDiabetes and President of the Diabetes Hands Foundation (DHF).  “I am honored and humbled for DHF and the partners that helped us in the Big Blue Test to have a role in something so important.”

DHF will also share the anonymized results submitted by people with diabetes with two academic research groups, to help us analyze the data and learn more from The Big Blue Test. For more details, visit www.BigBlueTest.org.

Thanks to One Warm Coat for helping us again this year. They sent us over 1,000 beautiful new coats like this young lady just received. And there are more on the way, with One Warm Coat drives at Burlington Coat Factory, The Container Store, and many other businesses and organizations. This Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, we will be doing a coat drive in front of the Ferry Building on Embarcadero with the help of some of our volunteers and several girl scout troops, collecting even more coats to keep our guests warm. Channel 2 will be covering the drive during their breaks.

Many thanks to Sherri Wood and all the good people at One Warm Coat.

To kick off the season of giving, St. Anthony’s will launch our 24^th annual Curbside Donation Program.  Each year, St. Anthony’s relies on the generosity of people all over the Bay Area to donate clean, cared-for warm clothing, canned or dried bulk foods, and monetary donations.  Our donation valets, clad in bright red jackets, will gladly greet donors curbside at St. Anthony’s to receive donations.

This year, St. Anthony’s would like to send a special thanks to our friends at the Institute on Aging.  What began as a small gesture of generosity several years ago has grown exponentially through the tireless efforts of their staff and supporters.  We are blessed to have the IOA as members of the St. Anthony community and we wish them hope and happiness this holiday season.

Curbside donations begin tomorrow at 9 A.M.  Have a wonderful weekend!

During the holiday season, the Food Pantry in St. Anthony’s Social Work Center seems to empty faster than any other time of the year.

The families, seniors, and people with ongoing dietary needs that use the Food Pantry look forward to the holiday season because it brings in a new variety of holiday foods. Your donations bring Thanksgiving to our many clients who might not be able to celebrate without your help.

Please help fill our clients’ holidays with food and with hope by donating dry foods and canned goods to St. Anthony’s Food Pantry.

It’s not just a can of tuna or a jar of peanut butter that you are giving; it’s hope. Hope is in the comfort of a warm meal. Hope is in the act of caring.

Hope is in A CAN!

We especially appreciate items including:
Canned Tuna & Canned Meat
Boxes of Cereal & Oatmeal
Jars of Peanut Butter
Canned Soups & Stews
Canned Fruits & Vegetables
Rice & Raman Noodles
Coffee & Tea
Condiments & Dressings
We also appreciate Special Holiday Items including:
Boxes of Stuffing
Boxes of Mashed Potatoes
Canned Yams

Donations may be dropped off to:
150 Golden Gate Ave.
San Francisco, CA 94102
(between Leavenworth and Jones St.)
Monday through Friday
8:30a.m. to 4:00p.m.

If you would like to conduct a food drive to collect large quantities of donated goods for St. Anthony’s Social Work Center Food Pantry at your workplace or house of worship, please contact Dolores Gould at 415-592-2704 for more information.

I had the honor of joining Mayor Ed Lee at a press conference this morning where he introduced the Season of Giving.  St. Anthony’s, Glide and Self-Help for the Elderly were invited to speak at this event, where Mayor Lee encouraged everyone to “Step Up” and give.  These are difficult times and at St. Anthony’s we see increasing numbers of people seeking services from all of our programs. The dining room alone saw a 15% jump in the number of guests in October.  Despite the many challenges people of San Francisco are facing, I also see hope on a daily basis.

St. Anthony’s, Mayor Lee, and many other social service agencies know that San Francisco has long had a commitment to care for those who are struggling.  When you make a financial donation or you volunteer with your time, you instill hope in our guests. Next week, Mayor Lee will be volunteering at St. Anthony’s alongside Police Chief Greg Suhr, Fire Chief Joanne Hayes-White, and members of the SFPD and SFFD to help prepare our Thanksgiving meal.  Now more than ever, we need to believe in one another and give the gift of hope.  The Season of Giving is a time to share and come together. It is a season that truly never ends especially in a city as generous and caring as San Francisco.

Shari Roeseler,
Executive Director

The Congressional Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction (commonly known as the “Super Committee”) has only one week left to develop its deficit reduction plan. Anti-hunger advocates from across the country are calling on our Congressional representatives to tell the Super Committee that deficit reduction should not be achieved by increasing hunger and malnutrition by cutting funding for nutrition safety net programs like SNAP (food stamps), the Emergency Food Assistance Program, WIC, the Commodity Supplemental Food Program, or child nutrition programs.

Our friends at Feeding America have made it easy to get in touch with our Congressional representatives to ask them to tell the Super Committee not to reduce the deficit by increasing hunger.

Here’s what you can do — take five minutes and call today (and don’t forget to share this post with a friend!)

1. Dial the toll-free number—1-877-698-8228

2. When prompted, enter your zip code.

3. Listen to the brief instructions, and you will be patched through to your Senator’s office automatically.

4.Once you’ve been connected to the first office, deliver this message:

“Please weigh in with the Super Committee personally and urge them to reject any proposals that would cut anti-hunger programs like SNAP, TEFAP, CSFP, or WIC or other child nutrition programs during the deficit reduction process. We cannot afford to increase hunger in America.”

After the call, stay on the line. You will be automatically connected to your remaining legislators’ offices.

St. Anthony staff is very busy these days receiving scarves from folks in Florida and Louisiana; from knitters in Texas and New York; and from crafters in Japan and New Zealand!

We need your scarf to reach our goal of 2,500 scarves.  If you haven’t pledged already then click here now.

Don’t knit?  You can still help.  Share this link on Facebook with all your friends!

Have you ever wished you could be in a suite for 12, watching all the action of a college football bowl game? If you answered yes- and you want to help St. Anthony’s -don’t miss this year’s Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl auction, complete with a number of exciting experience packages.  All proceeds from this auction benefit St. Anthony’s, Glide, and the San Francisco Food Bank.  Click here to start the bidding!

For a second year in a row, St. Anthony’s will be one of the leading nonprofits featured in the 2012 Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl.  This year’s bowl, scheduled to kick-off on December 31^st right here at AT & T park, will feature a team from the Pac-12 vs a team from the ACC, WAC or MAC.  Teams will be announced on December 5th.  In addition to proceeds from the auction, for every ticket purchased the Bowl, in conjunction with Macys, will donate the cost of one meal to St. Anthony’s, Glide, and the Food Bank.

Last year, Kraft Foods launched the Huddle to Fight Hunger campaign which provided 20 million meals to people in need through Feeding America. In conjunction with the new campaign, the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl rededicated itself to helping those less fortunate in the Bay Area, and The Bowl Staff chose to partner with St. Anthony’s as one of three local agencies who would benefit from their new local initiatives.  Highlights from last year’s game include:

• The Bowl donated over 120,000 meals to the Bay Area’s hungry. Over 40,000 of those went to St. Anthony’s
• Players from the Boston College Football team visited St. Anthony’s and served a meal to our guests, all of which was donated by Kraft Foods
• A Food Drive at the game
• The Bowl raised awareness with radio ads, recognition on the website, a formal check presentation, and PA & Scoreboard messages at the game
• Kraft Foods’ national campaign last year raised over 20 million meals for Feeding America.  The Bowl was the culmination of the campaign

Don’t miss the chance to spike one in the end zone for St. Anthony’s and help us score a touchdown for 1 in 5 of the hungry people here in San Francisco.