Dear Friend of SOS,

As we thank former Executive Director Kathy King for her amazing accomplishments guiding SOS over the last decade and wish her all the best in the next chapter of her life, we would like to make you aware of some changes at SOS.

Elena Alioto, President of the Board of Directors of SOS, and Judith Walsh, Secretary of the Board of SOS, have been elected by the SOS Board as interim Co-Executive Directors. They will manage SOS operations while SOS continues negotiations with another mission-aligned Sonoma County nonprofit, with a goal to ensure the long-term sustainability of the Unity Kitchen’s meal services to the hungry in the Valley. These will be volunteer positions. Elena and Judith will retain their current positions as President and Secretary, respectively, of the SOS Board. We want to emphasize that while these negotiations continue, there will be no changes to current meal services, delivery services, or the additional services operated by community partners at Unity Kitchen.

Elena has been with SOS since 2015, and worked as case manager at the Haven, SOS’s residential homeless shelter, for five years. When COVID hit in 2020, she joined the Board of Directors and became president in that same year. Elena has taught ESL and workplace English throughout the Sonoma Valley, mainly within the hospitality industry. She continues to teach ESL on a volunteer basis to patients at Napa State Hospital.

Judith joined the SOS Board of Directors in 2015 as the Board’s Secretary and remains in that office. She is also a member of the SOS Executive Committee. Judith is a retired corporate tax lawyer. She moved to Sonoma in 2011 and became involved in local nonprofit work soon after. Judith is a past Governance Chair and Co-President of Impact100 Sonoma.

Jude Sales, Vice President of the Board of SOS, began volunteering first as a Brown Bagger with SOS founder Elizabeth Kemp and continues as a volunteer to this day. Jude joined the SOS Board early on and is also a member of the SOS Executive Committee. Jude’s long-term career is as a bookseller; she is currently the book buyer for Readers’ Books. Jude has recently volunteered to become the Unity Kitchen’s Volunteer Coordinator.

 

Thank you to Janet Yelner’s Art Farm Sonoma for their donated artwork

 

 

Another change at the kitchen is the new display of paintings by local artisans of Janet Yelner’s Art Farm Sonoma. Janet’s husband Bruce is a long time volunteer of SOS. Our Chef and Head of Food Program, Dan Kahn, purchased blank canvas for the project. A big thank you to everyone involved, we hope you come by soon to see it!

We ask for your continued support of SOS.

With thanks,

Elena Alioto and Judith Walsh, Interim Co-Executive Directors