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In-person food donations resume with May the Fourth themed food drive

By The Food Depot

The Food Depot welcomes the return of in-person food donations from the public at our warehouse with “A New Hope Against Hunger” food drive from 11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on Tuesday, May 4.

 

Out of an abundance of caution for staff, volunteers and the public it serves, The Food Depot made the difficult decision to stop accepting food donations from the public during the COVID-19 public health crisis in April 2020. From March 2020 through September 2020, The Food Depot incurred $1.3 million in additional expenses, and spent its entire annual food purchase budget in just two months responding to meet the increased rate of food insecurity.

 

“In 2020, we made changes in our operations to keep everyone as safe as possible. We are excited to welcome back in-person donations to support northern New Mexicans in need. We thought we would have some fun with it for staff and donors alike,” Sherry Hooper said, executive director of The Food Depot.

 

In 2020, 11.6 million pounds of food was distributed to nine counties in northern New Mexico, compared to 6.3 million pounds during the same months of 2019. The amount of food in 2020 is enough for more than 9.6 million meals.

 

Food insecurity has always been a challenge in New Mexico, but the pandemic drastically increased the number of people in need. The national hunger-relief organization Feeding America projects that 1 in 3 children and 1 in 5 people overall in New Mexico do not have consistent access to food.

For more information on food donations: https://thefooddepot.org/a-new-hope-against-hunger.

About The Food Depot

The Food Depot fosters healthy communities by engaging a network of partners and developing solutions to create a hunger-free northern New Mexico. As the food bank for nine counties, The Food Depot provides hunger relief to more than 42,500 people experiencing hunger. The Food Depot addresses the crisis of hunger through a combination of drive-thru mobile food pantries, three direct service programs, and support of a network of over 145 partner nonprofit programs. Since January 2020, The Food Depot provided an average of 725,000 meals each month to people in need — the most vulnerable of our community — children, seniors, working families, and those in ill health.

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