FACES & PLACES

The eighth annual Neighbor to Neighbor Food Drive collected a record number of pounds of food recently for The Food Depot in Santa Fe.

The amount of food and monetary donations for this year’s food drive was the equivalent of 303,575 meals — more than half of what The Food Depot typically distributes each month.

The food drive, founded by Linda Wilder Flatt and organized by Jane Freeman, was a part of Hunger Action Month, asking people to take extra effort to end hunger in their community in the month of September.

There were 25 categories in a friendly competition for communities and businesses this year. The overall winner was Las Campanas, donating the equivalent of 42,662 pounds.

The Market Street Albertsons grocery stores, La Montanita Cooperative, the city of Santa Fe and Santa Fe County supported the event.

Donations are always welcome. Individuals who wish to contribute food or money to The Food Depot for the busy holiday season may do so from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday at 1222 A Siler Road or online at thefooddepot.org/donate.

Seventeen New Mexico nonprofits are now able to expand science, technology, engineering, arts and math (STEAM) programs for students after receiving more than $150,000 in grants from the PNM Resources Foundation.

Grant recipients in Santa Fe included the following:

◆ Girls Inc. of Santa Fe, $10,000 to fund expansion of Operation SMART to an additional 150 girls.

◆ National Dance Institute of New Mexico, $10,000 to fund Access to Excellence, which provides a 30-week inschool outreach program to 755 students in grades 3-5.

◆ Pueblo of Tesuque, $15,000 to fund the Tewa STEM program to K-12 students in Tesuque and Santa Fe.

The Santa Fe Community Foundation, through the Fund for Refugees and Asylum Seekers, announced a second round of grants totaling $45,000 to three New Mexico organizations working to address the humanitarian crisis along the southern border and in other affected communities across the state.

The grantees are:

◆ New Mexico Immigrant Law Center in Albuquerque, $15,000 for staff support to assist the legal needs of detainees at new detention center in Torrance County.

◆ Gerard’s House in Santa Fe, $15,000 to support the project Nuestra Jornada, a peer-support program for immigrant youth experiencing grief and loss due to family separation or loss.

◆ American Red Cross of New Mexico in Albuquerque, $15,000 for humanitarian relief for refugees, immigrants and asylum seekers receiving services at sites in Bernalillo County, Luna County and Doña Ana County.

◆ The Fund for Refugees and Asylum Seekers was established by the foundation, in coordination with the city of Santa Fe, in May. Financial donations to the Fund can be made online at santafecf.org or sending contributions to the Foundation at PO Box 1827, Santa Fe, NM 87504.

The Santa Fe Community Foundation has announced the promotion of Kevin Sokol-White to vice president of finance and operations.

Sokol-White, with 30 years of senior finance management experience in the energy industry, is a native of Gulfport, Miss., and recently moved full-time to Santa Fe, after purchasing property here over a decade ago. He previously held the title of chief financial officer at the foundation since January.