What People Are Saying:
“Large refrigeration units are expensive, and volunteer-driven organizations like Una Vida rarely have the resources to afford what can be described as an essential luxury – essential for success, but still a luxury because few organizations can afford them.
Fortunately, as part of a special fundraising effort supported by Blue Zones Project Petaluma – a community health initiative that is sponsored primarily by the Healthy Petaluma District & Foundation – Una Vida now has a new industrial-size walk-in refrigerator, giving the nonprofit plenty of room to store donations and increase its capacity.”
—“Petaluma’s Una Vida expands community outreach with new cold storage unit” by Lisa Ludwigsen
“They spread out blue tarps, where stacks of clothing were then neatly arranged by size and type. Along with the shirts, pants, dresses and jackets, they unloaded massive amounts of shoes and belts, the latter arranged by size on their own blue tarps off to the side. Boxes of children’s books and toys were similarly unloaded and arranged neatly on tables nearby.
By 1 p.m. the next day, on what became a warm Saturday afternoon, whatever remained was no longer so neatly arranged and stacked, the result of an estimated 70-80 people, many of them local families, having spent the previous four hours searching for items they can put to good use.”
— “Helping Out in Petaluma: A visit to Una Vida’s August clothing giveaway” by Contributed Content and David Templeton
“It goes without saying, but certainly never goes unnoticed that Lynne Gorden Moquete and her Una-Vida organization and volunteers always have a huge impact on helping get food to those in need. ‘Una Vida’s food distribution program is a major food story this year,’ said Mary Janssen Pratt. “In fear of repeating what others have said, watching Lynne Gordon Moquete do her thing has been inspirational to not only me but I am sure a lot of others as well,” added Nick Gordon, co-owner of Petaluma Food Taxi. ‘It is worth repeating though!’ Finally, Chrissy Minick, one of Lynne’s volunteers, responded directly with, ‘YOU help facilitate so much more than nutrition to people,’ posted. ‘Our community is rare and beautiful, especially with you at the helm.’
— Tip of my Tongue: Celebrating 2021’s most impactful food stories by Houston Porter
“My wife told me about all of her high school teachers, but none are as memorable to me as Lynne Gordon Moquete, now a retired Spanish teacher and executive director of Una Vida. Moquete, who remains known to her past students at Casa Grande High School as Ms. Moquette, is apparently deeply loved by all of them…
Over the past couple of years, I have also learned of Ms. Moquete’s amazing and dedicated community service trips to the Dominican Republic with her nonprofit organization Una Vida. In these trips, she takes groups of students to rural communities outside of Santo Domingo to help on different projects to support the community.”
— “Petaluma’s Ms. Moquete: an unintentional international matchmaker” by Carlos Garbiras
“The Deviled Eggery and Una Vida in Petaluma have created an informal program that easily transfers backyard garden surplus directly to anyone facing financial shortages. Every Tuesday and Saturday, gardeners drop off excess harvest at central locations managed by Una Vida, a nonprofit dedicated to building community, sharing resources, and serving the people of Petaluma.
Mary Beth Leland, co-owner of the Deviled Eggery, shared, “Our program with Una Vida isn’t really a gleaning program. We’re more like a network of families and backyard gardeners who intentionally or unintentionally grow extra food for distribution.””
—“What to do with excess vegetables from your Sonoma County garden” by Lisa Ludwigsen
“Moquete oversees a Tuesday drive-thru food distribution staffed by some 40 people who donate their time. She prefers the word “participants” rather than “volunteers,” careful not to suggest one group has greater value over the other.
Much of the food was destined for cruise ships and airlines through Torn Ranch; a former student of Moquete’s employed by the food distributor helped connect Una Vida with considerable donations, something for which she’s immeasurably grateful.”