Barbara Thomas
T U E S D A Y,
M A R C H 6 2 0 0 6
My new
project—fighting fires!
I guess I just wasn't busy enough
so I recently got involved in the local volunteer fire department!
Living in the mountains can be
difficult and we are often expected to be self-sufficient. The Boulder
Mountain Fire Protection District (BMFPD)
offers on-the-spot fire fighting by volunteers, responding to local
fires (hopefully) before they get out of hand.
I've been working with the
volunteer firefighters to help develop the 3rd Arm, a
branch of the BMFPD
designed to relieve the firefighters of the less strenuous duties of
directing traffic and coordinating evacuation efforts, allowing
trained firefighters to fight fires while still maintaining safe
evacuation routes.
I'm looking
forward to helping establish this 3rd Arm, and hopefully,
to help BMFPD to be even more effective as we will soon be entering
fire season.
Barbara
T U E S D A Y,
D E C E M B E R 2 6 2 0 0 6
Barbara K.
Thomas
For
those of you who don't know Barbara, she is probably best known for her
recent work with Open Heart
Kitchen in the San Francisco Bay Area. Barbara has always had a heart
for feeding people and animals—especially those that need a helping
hand—which is probably why she attended the California Culinary Academy in
San Francisco.
Soon after graduation she worked as a chef
with a catering firm for a few years in the Livermore area, and later on
worked as a pastry chef at a bakery that specialized in custom wedding
cakes.
In 1998, Barbara decided to
volunteer at a little soup kitchen based out of Livermore called
Open Heart Kitchen that was
serving the poor in the Tri-Valley area once a week from a church fellowship
hall. They were serving about 3000 meals a year. She was eventually asked to
take the full time position of Executive Director, and
for 5 years worked to help grow the organization in that role.
With the help of hundreds of volunteers, and an effective, dedicated core staff, Barbara helped Open Heart
Kitchen (OHK) grow to several serving sites, serving meals five days a week,
providing weekend box lunches for children of very poor families, and
serving more than 120,000 meals to the hungry in 2005. They accomplished all
that at a total cost per meal in 2005 (including overhead) of about $1.25.
Here is an
article that talks about Barbara's work at OHK.
In November, 2005, Barbara passed the torch
and moved to the Rocky Mountains with her husband Erik.
New Day Kitchen
Barbara is now heavily involved in volunteering at a number of community
service organizations, and also coordinates a new meal service (started in
April of 2006) called New
Day Kitchen which is sponsored by
New Day Covenant Church in north Boulder, Colorado.
Barbara has been leveraging her experience at OHK and modeling much of New
Day Kitchen after the things that worked best at OHK, staffing it entirely
with volunteers, seeking support only through donations, with no government
help. It is her wish—and the wishes of New Day Church leadership—to help all
people in need within our community, but will emphasize reaching those who
fall between the cracks—the working poor who don't qualify for government
programs, yet struggle to feed their families and pay the rent. These are
individuals who need a helping hand now, but will someday get on their feet
and be able to help others, which will strengthen our community (read
all about it). Barbara's other
community volunteer work includes:
Association for Community Living
(ACL) - Barbara develops menus and recipes that are healthy, inexpensive and
easy to prepare, shops for their food and teaches cooking classes for
developmentally disabled adults.
Boulder Shelter for the Homeless - Barbara prepares meals once a week
for shelter residents, and assists with menu development.
Carriage
House - Barbara prepares meals at least once a week and assists
with menu development and grocery shopping. She is also a member of the
board of directors.
Community
Table - Barbara assists in the dining room once a month and is a member
of the board of directors.
Boulder Mountain Fire
Protection District - Barbara is working with the volunteer
firefighters at BMFPD to help develop the 3rd Arm, a branch
designed to relieve the firefighters of the less strenuous duties of
directing traffic and coordinating evacuation efforts, allowing
trained firefighters to fight fires while still maintaining safe
evacuation routes. |
