La Jolla News Nuggets: Mama’s Kitchen pies, monkeypox emergency expires, safe-driving grant, more

Mama’s Kitchen volunteers assemble 3,000 pie boxes in La Jolla for annual bake sale

Volunteers for the nonprofit Mama’s Kitchen assembled and labeled 3,000 pie boxes in La Jolla for the 18th annual Mama’s Pies Thanksgiving Bake Sale.

The boxes, assembled at the Hyatt Regency La Jolla at Aventine hotel, will be delivered to local bakers who are donating their time to bake pies that are in turn sold by Mama’s Kitchen and volunteer pie sellers to benefit Mama’s Kitchen.

This year, each pie costs $32 and the funds raised will enable Mama’s Kitchen to cook, prepare and deliver 12 nutritious meals to people with critical illnesses, including HIV, cancer, heart disease, Type 2 diabetes and chronic kidney disease. The nonprofit hopes to raise $145,000 during the four-week sales period to fund 55,000 meals.

Pies are on sale through Saturday, Nov. 19, or until sold out. To learn more, visiit mamaspies.org.

County monkeypox health emergency expires

With the number of new cases dwindling, San Diego County allowed its monkeypox public health emergency to expire Nov. 10.

Declared on Aug. 2 and ratified on Aug. 9 following a similar decision from the state, the decision was explained as a way to help educate the public on the disease and also to push for access to limited vaccine supply as cities across the nation and globe requested additional doses to prevent the virus from spreading.

Dr. Wilma Wooten, the county’s public health officer, said in a statement that the emergency “is no longer necessary now that ample testing, treatment and vaccines are available.”

San Diego County’s weekly new-case totals have plummeted since the first week of August, when 57 residents tested positive. The number fell to a single new case in the first week of November. Weekly case totals have been in the single digits since early October.

The cumulative case count in San Diego stands at more than 440, with 14 becoming ill enough to require a hospital stay, and zero deaths. Nationally, there have been more than 28,000 cases and about a dozen deaths. — The San Diego Union-Tribune

UCSD researchers are granted $360,000 for safe-driving education program

Researchers at The Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health and Human Longevity Science at UC San Diego recently received a $360,000 grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to help facilitate the UCSD Training, Research and Education for Driving Safety, or TREDS, program, which aims to educate drivers and pedestrians about making safety the No. 1 priority when sharing the roadways.

NHTSA estimates that 42,915 people died in motor vehicle crashes in the United States in 2021, a 10.5 percent increase from 38,824 in 2020. The estimate is the highest number of fatalities since 2005 and the largest annual percentage increase in the Fatality Analysis Reporting System’s history.

TREDS provides courses, online training and written materials to prepare law enforcement, clinicians and other roadway safety professionals to educate the public. The free courses address impaired driving by alcohol, cannabis and prescription medications, as well as distracted driving, pedestrian safety and refresher education for aging drivers.

Promoting the safety of teenagers is a priority for the program in the upcoming year, officials say. A recent NHTSA report indicates that 1,885 young drivers died in traffic crashes in 2020 in the United States, a 17 percent increase from the year before. Alcohol was a significant contributor in many of those deaths, according to the report.

La Jolla chapter of National League of Young Men seeks new members

The La Jolla chapter of the National League of Young Men recently participated in a charity event with Feeding San Diego.

(National League of Young Men)

The La Jolla chapter of the National League of Young Men is open for new members and recently collaborated with the nonprofit Feeding San Diego to assist in the preparation and distribution of nutritious meals to people facing hunger.

NLYM, established in 2007, is a mother-son organization dedicated to educating youths as leaders and showing them the importance of community, philanthropy and charity.

Membership is open for students or residents of La Jolla who will graduate from high school in 2025 to 2027.

For more information, visit nationalleagueofyoungmen.org.

— Compiled by La Jolla Light staff ◆