From: LA Cares, the food pantry for Los Alamos County:

To: The generous citizens of Los Alamos,

You are amazing! Especially this fall, when the need has been far greater, you have stepped up … big time!! We have many new donors, as well as returning contributors.  Many are recurring monthly givers, which we greatly appreciate.  We have been able to increase our food offerings each month, and to help more families with their rent or utility payments.

Your generous donations in 2025 are important to our mission of “preventing homelessness in Los Alamos County”. With the food, rent and/or utility assistance, we hope to help families remain in their houses with the pantry stocked and the heat on.

Without your support, many struggling households in Los Alamos would be even more unstable.

2025 Highlights:

• Monthly food distributions served approximately 100 families each month (1,143) (2,649 individuals). We supplement food offerings from the Food Depot in Santa Fe with fresh fruits and vegetables, meat, cheese, eggs, butter, bread, cereal, juice, diapers, kid snacks, personal care items, dog and cat food, and special dietary needs. These items amount to approximately $4,000. per month.
• 77 households received rent assistance (a total of $37,222.00).
• 74 households received utility assistance (a total of $30, 924.00).
• 12 large food drives (businesses, churches and synagogues, civic organizations, and schools) and many smaller ones held by individuals or families.
• Our active Board of Directors and cadre of volunteers donated over 5,000 hours to make all this happen. (At $20/hour, that’s $100,000 worth of efforts put into making sure our neighbors can remain in their homes.) We have no paid staff; we are 100% volunteers. Our operating costs are only 4% of our budget–essentials like ­­­­­­­­­­­insurance and phone.

We can only accomplish this amazing work of generosity because of you and other concerned community members like you. We are pleased to be the conduit through which your donations result in real life changes.

With sincere thanks,

The LA Cares Board of Directors
January 2026

Visit lacaresnm.org.