12-25-2023 3:30am

“Alamogordo Proud” First Responders Christmas Eve Dinner Showed Spirit of Christmas

Chris Edwards Editor

The spirit of Christmas in Alamogordo New Mexico 2023 First Responders Christmas Eve Dinner

Chez Sanchez shares the spirit of Christmas…

“Otero, tonight's dinner was an amazing success! When we put on our 1st meal back in 2012, we fed the Alamo Alamogordo Fire Department & Alamogordo Police Dept and their dispatchers. About 15ish people. We had a good amount of food, plenty to feed everyone and a decent amount of leftovers that we took to COPE.

Uh, let’s just say that we've grown a bit since then. This year we fed about 140 1st Responders and had at least 5 times the grub to feed them with.

We fed the:

Alamogordo PD
Alamogordo FD
AMR Ambulance Service
Otero County Dispatch Center
State Police
Otero Sheriff’s Dept
Border Patrol (both the West and South checkpoints
FT Bliss Ammo Dump (one of our Sheriff’s found 3 Army guys on Ft Bliss, but in our county, so they got fed…😊)
Holloman Security Forces
Holloman Fire Dept
Holloman Command Post
Holloman Ambulance Crew
Otero County Jail Staff
GCRMC ER
COPE

And several of them had 2nds & 3rds! We sent two sets of buffet dinners to the 8 or so folks at the Otero County Dispatch office, and after the Fire Fighters came back for 2nds, we sent them back out with about another 10-person buffet style set for their leftovers.

When we got done and began packing up, we set up the GCRMC ER with another 20 meals with all the fixings for their staff. And the rest went to COPE. They got leftovers that should last them more than a few days. They were very grateful for us trying to get those families a good Christmas meal and letting them know that while they may be going thru major issues right now, there are great folks that care about them and want to help.

To pull this off we had around 60 folks donate everything from a Turkey thru a side dish of Marconi Salad. And let’s not even get into the dessert table. Just looking at that thing gave me cavities!

Additionally, we had about another 15 volunteers to help setup, serve, deliver, and clean up after the meal. And please believe me, those folks worked their butts off! To make sure everyone got fed, they were packing individual meals and buffet style sets for at least 3/4ths of those fed. One of our deliveries went to the Police, Fire, Command Post, & Ambulance Service on Holloman, AND the Otero County Detention Center, AND the west Border Patrol checkpoint. That was about 50 or so folks on that run alone. Our volunteers were packing/sorting/dishing food for the 1st hour and a half to get all those folks fed. I stayed out of the kitchen because it was just one notch below a full-on food fight with the way they were working. 😉

In the pics below, you’ll see who got fed and how the meal was set up. Bottom-line, tonight was our 10th anniversary doing this, and it was sincerely the best ever! Deacon Jim, Rich, and I are so proud and humbled by the way our citizens stepped up to make this all happen. And our 1st Responders were blown away. We tell them not to thank us, this is our small way of thanking them, but trust me, they simply couldn’t say enough about how grateful they were.

Bottom-line, thank you Otero, YOU made this happen and once again showed those that have our backs every day, that we know it and can’t thank them enough for what they do. This is just one tiny way we can and do thank them for their service to our county.

Final notes:

We do this every year, so plz “like’ this FB Page so you can be notified when we gear up for next year. The page name is changing in a week or so to “Otero 1st Responder Christmas Dinner” because we’re way past our original idea.

The 1st post requesting donations comes out on Thanksgiving weekend, so keep an eye out for that.

Otero County, Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and a joyous Holiday Season to all! Be smart, be safe, be well, and may God bless us, our local heroes, our troops far away from home, and of course, may God bless these United States of America!”

Commentary by Chris Edwards and Rene Sepulveda partners of 2nd Life Media…

” Chez Sanchez, Rich Merrick and Deacon Jim Ernst have been hosting the First Responders Christmas Eve Dinner for 10 years growing from feeding 15 Alamogordo Police officers to this year over 140 plus first responders across a variety of agencies and at Holloman and Ft Bliss located in Otero County

2nd Life Media was brought into the mix as a community volunteer to help spread the word about this important event of appreciation and a show of Christmas Spirit

We were honored to be asked to assist and support this worthy cause. Our readers and listeners of our media platforms and of our KRAZY KALH Radio along with the media partners of 101.9 FM and 1230 AM engaged the public and you responded. Thanks to your generosity the dinner was a true success and an example of compassion, collaboration and community spirit.

Rene and I have had the privilege to collaborate and form a friendship with Chez, Rich and Jim on a few projects since we formed 2nd Life Media. With each opportunity in partnership we grow stronger as a community and prove diverse communities collaborating show a positive example and a sense of community.

The Christmas season continues to inspire families and our community with joy, love, and hope. This season of connecting, giving, and creating memories draws the community together like no other. Joy creates strong bonds between people as is evidenced events such as tonight’s First Responders Dinner.

Like most people, Christmas evokes all kinds of emotions for me. There is grief of loved ones lost, as I lost my mother this holiday season last year. There is anxiety when I add yet another item to my ever-expanding holiday to-do list. And there is the sense of wonder when I drive through town and gaze up at all the lights and wreaths reminding me to hold on to the magical feeling that Christmas evoked into me as a child.

Most of all, though, Christmas inspires hope. The symbols and stories surrounding Christmas whisper into my ear, “Don’t give up. Keep going.”

Light shines brightest in darkness. That’s the heart of the Christmas story, an overriding message of hope that is articulated beautifully in the lyrics of “O Holy Night”: “O holy night, the stars are brightly shining, It is the night of our dear Savior’s birth.” Faith didn’t come into our hearts at high noon. It enters our lives in darkness — showing us the way to light, guiding us towards love, and demonstrating how to overcome shadows and blackness. Christmas teaches us that even when things seem dark, we can trust the everlasting light. The inspiration of others through partnerships and giving reinforces that light. Events such as tonight’s First Responders Christmas Eve Dinner represents the light, message and spirit of Christmas.

May you each feel the warmth of the light this Christmas season and may peace love and happiness come to you as we bridge ourselves toward the new year. Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah and may the peace of Kwanzaa reach into all of our hearts!