Alamogordo resident feeds community for Thanksgiving

ALAMOGORDO — For the third year in a row, Amber Green will celebrate Thanksgiving by preparing and delivering Thanksgiving meals to community members. 

"It started out of depression, honestly," Green said. "It was the first holiday I was without my son since my divorce and all my family is in Ohio. I was really feeling sorry for myself."

Following a Thanksgiving work party, Green was driving around town with an abundance of leftover food when she saw people on the street. Green decided to make shredded chicken sandwiches and deliver them. 

"Each time I'd deliver the sandwiches, they'd tell me this person is over here or this family over there could really use the meal," Green said.

The next year, Green was without her son on Thanksgiving again so she took to Facebook to see where meals were needed.

"It was overwhelming how many people actually need meals," Green said. "Even people I work with would tell me, 'I found a family of five here. Can you bring it?' I just didn't realize how many people need it here." 

And so began the Alamo Love Project, which now consists of Green and her close friends getting together to cook and deliver Thanksgiving meals to people in Alamogordo, Tularosa and Mescalero.

Under a food handler's license and thanks to multiple donations from the community of whole turkeys, Tupperware and gas cards for those delivering, the Alamo Love Project was able to serve 80 local families last Thanksgiving. Participating families don't have to provide financial status, Green said.

She said meals are available to anyone who wants it and that she's even delivered to military spouses who are alone on Thanksgiving.

"We do full spreads of turkey, sweet potatoes, stuffing and rolls," Green said. "When people call or email me, I ask how many are in the family and how many are adults and how many are children. We use that information to determine what we're going to take to them. Usually if it's a family of four or more, we make sure they get a whole turkey, a whole pie and if there's kids we try to give them extra cookies or fruit." 

This year, Green will have her son, Corbin, for Thanksgiving and she can't wait to share this tradition with him.

"He's five and like any five year old, everything's all about him," Green said. "You know, sometimes it's woe is me if he can't get the toy at the gas station that he wants. I hope he learns to think outside himself. I want him to have compassion and to know it's not just all about him and his family in a tiny little world, we are all here together and it takes all of us." 

Green hopes that one day she'll be able to expand with chapters throughout the state to become the New Mexico Love Project. So far, her efforts have inspired her family to start their own Love Project back home. 

"This started from depression and it was something that helped me heal from what I was going through," Green said. "There is no ulterior motive, we're not raising money – I just want everybody to get to enjoy those food memories. When you take a bite of something and it reminds you of your grandma or home, I just want to bring that feeling to everybody."

For more information, email Green at alamoloveproject@gmail.com.