Announcing our first ever Pancake Breakfast

Typical Pantry Needs

Needed food pantry items for the Albuquerque Christian Children’s Home

All food items must have a current “Use By” date on them. Thank you!

We are currently very well stocked on canned vegetables!

Food Pantry

• Flour
• Sugar
• Kosher or Sea Salt
• Pepper Corns to put in Mills
• Vanilla
• Baking Soda
• Corn Meal
• Condiments
• Ranch Dressing
• Tea Bags
• Jelly
• Paper Towels

Cereal – of any kind & cereals that contain WHOLE grains. Cheerios and Chocolate Cheerios are favorite, Kashi Cereals, Life, Captain Crunch with Berries, Frosted Mini Wheats, Rice Krispies

Prepackaged snacks for snack times – some ideas:

• Trail mix
• Granola bars
• Cookies
• Beef jerky
• Fruit roll ups – Fruit by the Foot
• 100 calorie snacks (any kind)
• sugar-free snacks
• Dried Fruit

Hamburger Helper Mixes

Cans of Chef Boy R Dee –
Mixes (taco seasoning, chili seasoning, salad dressing mixes, white & brown gravy mixes)

Sauces (spaghetti, alfredo, pesto)
fruit juice (100% fruit juice only – all varieties and blends – orange

juice, apple, grape, cranberry mixes, etc)

Canned Chicken

Perishable Items:

Frozen Vegetables

Frozen meals like lasagna, enchiladas

Shredded Cheese

Non Food Items:

• Sensitive Toothpaste
• Liquid laundry Detergent **For High Efficiency Washers Only – This is a special detergent, and all of our washing machines are High Efficiency, courtesy of PNM
• Cascade Gel packs dishwashing detergent
• Fabric Softener Liquid
• Liquid dishwashing detergent (Dawn)
• Dish brushes
• Jet Dry
• Bounce Dryer Bars
• 13 Gallon Trash Bags
• Large Garbage can Trash Bags
• Liquid Soft Scrub
• Kaboom Scrubbing Bubbles
• Toilet Paper
• Kleenex
• Paper Towels
• 60w light bulbs
• Zip Lock Bags – all Sizes
• Saran Wrap
• Foil
• Disinfectant Wipes
• Renuzit Solid Air Fresheners

2011 Auction Sets New Record

With the great support of the individuals and businesses that donated items for our silent and live auctions, plus the totals of ticket sales, aggressive bidding on the auction items, and donations made during the evening, an incredible new record $170,000+ (previous record was $126,000) was raised at our 2011 Auction.  Thank you so much for blessing our kids by your generosity.  Here are some snapshots of the evening’s activities…

A few of the Kohl’s employees who are always so good to help ACCH.

UNM Christian Student Center members receive instructions before assisting at the Silent Auction.

Demonstrating the Citizen Eco-Drive watch from Harris Jewelry

Shopping for treasures at the Silent Auction

Embassy Suites served a delicious dinner in gracious surroundings

Two of our young ladies show off the dwarf rabbit from PetLand

We had a Labradoodle and a Shih Tzu puppy this year.  Each came complete with grooming, vet services, a bed, toys, treats, and a pet sitter.

Two ACCH alumni – brother and sister Jonathan and Shaylene

Howard McCall and crew did an outstanding job at the Live Auction

Monica tells about growing up at ACCH and what that has meant in her life.

Family Life Radio (KFLQ-FM, 91.5) Workday

Thanks to Chad Smitch and KFLQ, Family Life Radio for sponsoring a campus workday on Saturday, October 22.  Go to myflr.org for more information and to sign up.

ACCH receives $2,500 Wal-Mart grant

Everett and Dave accept the check

On Friday, September 23, Wal-Mart store #2924 (at Coors Blvd. and I-40) presented ACCH with a $2,500 check as a part of the Re-Grand Opening Celebration of their newly-remodeled store.  We are very grateful to Wal-Mart, both locally and corporate, for their support over the years.  Remember that when you shop at Wal-Mart, you not only get good prices on a great selection of products, but you also help to support the Wal-Mart Foundation which, in turn, helps to support non-profits in our community.

Who knew we were on YouTube?

Back in 2010, New Covenant Church in Albuquerque came to our campus for a Saturday workday.  They pulled weeds, swept porches, planted new decorative shrubs, moved tons of rock (literally), and generally spruced up our campus.  They also had a very talented member shooting video clips of their work, which they put together and posted on YouTube.  We just recently discovered that video, and wanted to mention it for those of you who don’t YouTube (even though there may only be 1 or 2 people other than ye olde ACCH website editor).  We think you will enjoy their work on the video and their work on our campus.  Go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=caW9YEsV4Ao Thanks again New Covenant Church (nccabq.org).

Final FUNdraiser of 2011 at Country Clutter

Our sincerest thanks to Jean Tamura, owner of Country Clutter, for hosting a wonderful FUNdraiser day for ACCH on Saturday, September 17.  Jean has a great store, full of all sorts of delights for your home, yourself, and to give as gifts.  She generously donated 15% of the total sales for that day–and she even sent notices of this special event to everyone on her customer list. WOW!!

Stop in and thank Jean for blessing our children with this special day, and you might find something special for the upcoming holidays.

Thanks to YOU and CPK!

Thanks to your attendance and dining pleasure, and to California Pizza Kitchen in ABQ Uptown for hosting and donating 20% of your check, we had our most successful FUNdraiser event ever.  We hope that you enjoyed the great menu at CPK as much as we always do, and we always appreciate general manager, Bob Resor, and his staff, and the great job they do of taking such good care of us.

It was so full inside that we couldn’t get a good picture, but everyone on the outside in this picture is there for the FUNdraiser.

Our “Down Under” Barbeque

“A good time was had by all…” at our 10th annual Barbeque and Open House on Saturday, August 13.  Our fun theme this year was the nation/continent of Australia, and we played that to the hilt, from the opening “G’day Mates” to the “shrimp on the barbie” and the “chocolate crackles” dessert courtesy of Australian native Nikki Peterson, and her husband, Eric Peterson playing the digiridoo for the crowd.

Thanks to staff from all 3 local Kohl’s Department Stores for serving the delicious food to all of our guests (and to Dale Sims and Allan Steinle for cooking it).

And to the ladies from the Albuquerque BioPark “Zoo to You” Program for bringing 4 “Aussie critters” (a lorikeet, a rose-breasted cockatoo, a bearded dragon, and a sugar glider) that fascinated both children and adults.

The big tent provided shade from the summer sun

where folks could listen to The Lost Howlin’ Coyotes

and a great new band called Breaking Blue.

Meanwhile, the kids were enjoying the jumper,

face painting, the “Twisty Balloons” lady, and Australian crafts.

And, all ages loved the classic cars that the Land of Enchantment GTO Club brought (plus the club gave ACCH a very generous check as a donation from the proceeds of a car show that they had put on earlier in the summer–Thank You LOE GTO’s!)

Hope you made it to this fun event this year.  If not, be sure to put us on your calendar for next year!

Thank You PNM

Once again, we extend our sincere thanks to Public Service Company of New Mexico (PNM) for awarding Albuquerque Christian Children’s Home another “Reduce Your Use” grant for the purchase of more energy-efficient appliances for our campus.  From grants that PNM awarded to us in 2010 and 2011, we have been able to upgrade all three of our residential cottages to high-capacity, high-efficiency washers and dryers, plus installing new, high-efficiency dishwashers in all three cottages.  These awards have not only enabled us to replace older appliances, but will also save us a substantial amount on energy costs for the operation of these appliances.

Thank you PNM for blessing our ministry and our children through your generosity.

GTO Club Car Show Benefits ACCH

Saturday, June 25, the Land of Enchantment GTO Club sponsored a Car and Truck show at the grand opening of the new location of Hoffmantown Body Shop.  The GTO Club members are long-time supporters of the Children’s Home, and are donating the proceeds of this event to ACCH for the support of our children.

Those of you who are real “car buffs” will recognize that the car in the foreground of this picture is not a GTO.  If you can identify what year and make of vehicle it is, post a reply to this blog.  (There is, however, a GTO in the background of the picture, across the parking lot!)

If you enjoy classic cars and trucks, join us for our Annual Barbeque and Open House on Saturday, August 13, from 11:00 am until 2:00 pm.  The GTO Club will have their cars here, as will several other area car and truck clubs.

Thank You Crego Block Company

We especially want to thank Crego Block Company of Albuquerque for their generosity for the past two years that has done so much to beautify our campus and to provide the materials for projects that Memorial Road and The Hills churches have done for us.

This year, Crego provided us with the beautiful red blocks that are lining our driveway, and with multi-sized pavers that we used to create walkways and patios.  Last year, they provided us with retaining wall blocks that were used to create elevated grass areas near the pond, and pavers for the main walkway in the pond area.

These donations have greatly enhanced the appearance of our campus, and have also created nicer, safer play areas for our children.

Thank You to Two of The Hills Churches

The Hills Church of Christ (formerly Richland Hills) is growing, and soon will have three campuses in the Forth Worth, Texas, area.  76 teens and sponsors from two of their campuses (North Richland Hills and Southlake) came to work on our campus June 6 – 9.  This is the second year in a row that this church has blessed us with their efforts.

They built a block border along our entrance drive.  This replaced a plastic bend-a-border that was in constant need of repairs, and will provide a much more stable and erosion-resistant border to our driveway.

They also helped to beautify our pond area by moving the skimmer to the back side of the bridge (so it wouldn’t be the prominent feature in every view of the pond), and…

… they created a level area, covered with paver stones, for the pond-area picnic table.  They also constructed walkways to the picnic area, and generally beautified the pond and landscaping around it.

They also finished the work that Memorial Road had started in Cottage #3′s new back yard by installing pavers for walks and a patio, and laying sod.

And, they made a great start on our project to remodel the Joel and Nina Taylor Vo-Tech Building on our campus, by moving walls and installing new cabinets in the kitchen area.

Thank You again The Hills teens and sponsors!

Thank You Memorial Road!

Memorial Road Church of Christ from Edmond, Oklahoma, brought 65 high school students and sponsors to ACCH May 31 – June 2.  This church has been to our campus several times, and they always do great projects for us.

This year, they backfilled and smoothed out our catchment pond and built a spillway to control erosion where water from our property drained into the pond.

They also doubled the width of the dam that contains the wet end of the pond (for reinforcement), and installed drip lines and planted bushes across the top of the dam.

They dug ditches for sprinkler supply lines, and leveled fill dirt, applied topsoil, and installed sprinklers for a beautiful new back yard for Cottage #3.

And, they stained and installed fence posts and fence panels around Cottage #3′s new back yard and at other locations on our campus.

Thank You again, Memorial Road!

Graduation Cheers and Tears

We have come to another season of Cheers and Tears.  Cheers for Trenton Tsosie as he gains the rewards for his hard work to complete his High School coursework (ahead of schedule), graduate from the Albuquerque Public School’s charter Creative Education Preparatory Institute, and be accepted (with a scholarship) to start college at Southwest Indian Polytechnic Institute this fall.

The graduate on his big day

But, just as you did–or will do–when your children graduate(ed) from High School, there are also Tears as one of our family moves on to college and then to life as an independent adult.  Trenton has been a real blessing to all of us here at ACCH ever since he arrived four years ago with three younger siblings.  He is very patient, easy-going, very caring for his brothers and sister, and truly has a heart of gold.  He had to work hard to catch up with his school work and graduate with his peers, but he proved up to the challenge.  While doing all of this, he has also been active at church, even participating in a mission trip to Haiti in 2010.  And, he has recently begun working at the Albertson’s Supermarket near our campus.

Trenton with some of his ACCH family.

We all wish Trenton the very best that life can bring.  If you would like to help Trenton with his college expenses, you may send a check (payable to ACCH and marked for Trenton Tsosie) to 5700 Winter Haven Road NW, Albuquerque, NM  87120.

Thank You Petroglyph Elementary School

Sharon Roberson, Director of Campus Life, Dave Jenkins, Director of Development, and Dave’s wife Chris were privileged to be present at the start of the school day on Tuesday, April 5th for a special presentation.  One of our younger children is a student in Mrs. Sanchez’s first grade class, and the other students really like him.  So, the first graders chose to donate the $177 proceeds from their part of the school carnival to all of the children at ACCH.

Receiving the donation check

We thank all of the kids in Mrs. Sanchez’s first grade class for their thoughtfulness, and for their desire to help other children.

ACCH on the Radio

For several years, Christian radio personality Peter Benson has been hosting a representative from Albuquerque Christian Children’s Home each Tuesday to talk about happenings at ACCH.  Catch Peter’s show–ABQ Connects–every weekday from 1:00 until 2:00 on 107.1, KNKT-FM, and listen on Tuesday to hear the latest from ACCH.  We are usually on the last 5 minutes of the show–though we are occasionally on the air early.  Peter has also MC’d various events for ACCH, and conducted a remote at last summer’s Barbeque and Open House.

Peter Benson and Dave Jenkins telling the ACCH story

We also thank KNKT for sponsoring a very successful linen drive for our children this past February.

KNKT-FM is a ministry of Calvary of Albuquerque.

Thanks KNKT for a Successful Linen Drive

Our sincere thanks to the staff and management of KNKT-FM radio–and especially to Peter Benson–for putting on a very successful Linen Drive for ACCH on Friday, February 22.  We did a “nearby remote” at the Solomon’s Porch Cafe on the Calvary of Albuquerque campus, complete with good food, great music by local Christian artist Chuck Elmore, and a wonderful group of folks who came by to donate sheets, pillows, and lots of towels and washcloths.  We were able to meet a bunch of new (to us) people, and we came back to campus with lots of new bedroom and bathroom staples for the kids’ rooms.  Thanks to all of you who brought linens.  May God bless all of you richly!

We Had a Great Evening at Flying Star

We had a wonderful evening at the Flying Star Cafe at Paseo del Norte and Wyoming.  The management of that location has been absolutely super to work with, and there was a great turnout for our first FUNdraiser of 2011.  We saw lots of “old friends” from area churches, and made a bunch of “new friends” who heard about our event and came to find out about the mission of ACCH.  Abundant thanks to Mike and all of the friendly and helpful crew at Flying Star, and to all of you who came out to enjoy great food, good friends, and to support our children.

2010 Auction Sets Record

The 23rd Annual ACCH Benefit Dinner and Auction established a new record for income at one of these events with a total of $123,500 pledged or brought in as of the date of this posting.  And, this amount comes during a time of general economic malaise throughout the nation.  We see God working in this gift, and feel that He has truly blessed us to help our children with this great donation during these difficult times.  Huge Thank You’s to everyone who attended and participated in the Silent and Live Auctions, and the Matching Donation.

Shopping for bargains and visiting with friends

Three pretty girls

Bidding on a clock

Jake Lovato’s “Garden Angel”

Howard McCall conducts the Live Auction

Kudos on Facebook

We received a nice posting on our Facebook page from Al Maxey, preacher for the Cuba Avenue Church of Christ in Alamogordo, New Mexico.

“Al Maxey Good to see this great work continuing. I was the Executive Director of ACCH from 1978 to 1982. It was, and still is, a     fantastic facility, and does much to help young people with special needs and families in crisis. May God bless each of you who       are involved.”

Thank you, Al, for the kind words and the fond memories of ACCH.

Babies at ACCH

While Albuquerque Christian Children’s Home does not accept children under the age of five (we are just not set up to care for the really little ones), we do occasionally get babies on our campus.

Today, Mr. and Mrs. Mallard brought their babies (all 8 of them–6 are in this picture) over to visit our pond.  They had a wonderful time swimming around, chasing bugs, and rushing to mother’s side whenever they were scared.  We had a great time trying to get close enough to take pictures and enjoy their fun without making them flee.

All of God’s children are truly a blessing.

POV Puppets Perform

Our children were both blessed and entertained on Saturday evening, May 1st, when Shepherd of the Valley Presbyterian Church brought over their outstanding “Puppets of the Valley” puppet team to perform.  The kids had a great time, and the puppeteers even let our children “make the characters come alive” by operating the puppets.  Thanks to Puppets of the Valley for bringing your show “on the road” to us.

We thought it was a good idea…

We all had lots of good intentions for a big workday project of leaf-raking and weed-pulling to “pretty up” the ACCH campus, but Old Man Winter had other ideas.  Here is what the campus looked like @ 9:30 Saturday morning.

The “bummer” was that there was just enough snow to prevent raking and weeding, but not enough to let the children make a snowman or even have a decent snowball fight.  Still, it was about the most snow that we have had on campus all winter.

Oh well!  There will always be another day to work.  Thanks to all of the KNKT (107.1 FM) staff and listeners who had volunteered to come out and help.  We will welcome you another day!

New website

Our website is new, in case you didn’t notice, and one of the things we’re really excited about is this blog.  It’s going to be a place to showcase what’s going on at ACCH.  We’ll post pictures, talk about recent events, highlight different staff… really we don’t know what all we’ll use it for but it should be good.  So keep checking back.  Even subscribe to us if you want using some cool subscriber tool (you’ll have to do that on your own though.)  And by all means, if you know of something we SHOULD be blogging about, let us know!