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We can’t begin to express the gratitude to our community for the outpouring of support for our food bank. Please know how much we appreciate everyone’s involvement to make sure everyone in our community has enough to eat. We’ve had many people step up to make sure we have fresh produce, eggs and milk every week along with the staple items we receive from the Food Bank and Amazon donations. After this week we will have delivered over 1,000 boxes of food to local families.

Our community food bank is low on cereal and snacks. Please purchase something from our Amazon list. We have also added baby supplies to the Amazon list.

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I was in the meeting last week when we decided we would be the first public school in our county to close due to COVID-19. My immediate thought was, what about those students who come to school to eat? I immediately contacted Tess Arthur to help figure out what we were going to do for these students. A few years ago I co-created This Club Saves Lives and last year we turned the club into a nonprofit. We are so lucky to have that nonprofit status so that we could immediately solicit cash donations and food donations to help these families immediately. In one week we have done two deliveries to families in need in our community. Every day the needs change. Currently we plan on doing a weekly delivery to these outlying communities. In the Big Sur area, many employees have been laid off for two months. They are in need of food and we will bring it to them for as long as we need to. So far we’ve had very generous community support. I know not every community in our county is as lucky. Thank you so much to our generous community and the outstanding support we’ve received from local businesses and the Carmel Unified School District.

Here’s some photos of my front porch looks like on a regular basis.
Thank you so much (I’m sure the delivery people find me annoying).

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To our beloved community,
In the wake of our world’s current affairs, there is a team that is mobilizing to respond to this crisis. We are making plans to receive, box, and deliver non-perishable food items and other household essentials to our families and community members in need, especially in our outlying populations.
If you would like to help, please refer to the Amazon wishlist to respond to this crisis, so we can start stockpiling items for immediate disbursement this Monday morning. You can order directly from Amazon, or purchase similar items locally, which will be automatically delivered to one of our team members. In addition, we will be receiving non-perishable food items at the Carmel Middle School gym between 9:00 a.m. – 10:00 a.m. daily, starting Saturday. If those times do not work for you, you can also drop off donations at the Crossroads Starbucks, which we will make arrangements to pick up.
If you are hesitant to donate items in person, you can also donate money to This Club Saves Lives, a non-profit club at Carmel High School. This situation is extremely fluid, but right now we are distributing items on Mondays and Thursdays, around 11:30 a.m., to Post Ranch employee housing units, Big Sur River Inn, and Cachagua Children’s Center parking lot.
If you have specific needs, i.e. diapers, baby food, menstrual supplies, please contact Tess Arthur at 831-596-5170 or tessors@hotmail.com. If you prefer to speak in Spanish, contact Alondra Valdez at 831-277-1294 or lalavk@hotmail.com.
Thank you for your love and coming together in times of need, it takes a village.

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Carmel High School hosted the first WE Day X – Carmel High School in March. Schools from around Monterey County, including CMS, PGMS, Monterey HS, Santa Cruz HS, and Mount Madonna, attended a day of speakers, inspiration, and action planning. The attendees were treated to performances from the CHS Singers/Songwriters, presentations from CHS graduates Clementine Chamberlain and Connor Cohan, and speakers from the WE organization. Connor Cohan organizes a yearly fundraiser called Eat To Defeat ALS, and Clementine is the creator of Tampon Tuesday, an initiative to educate and prevent period poverty. The attendees also learned about the importance of the census and how to get involved to make sure everyone gets counted this year. The day continued with workshops and action planning with WE facilitators as well as our own district staff leading workshops on the environment, technology, social justice, athletic leadership, and more. The event was sponsored by This Club Saves Lives and was supported by the Carmel High School and CMS leadership classes, link leaders, service clubs, and the CHS athletic council.