Food Depot to resume in-person food drives | Local News
The nonperishables and badly needed foodstuffs The Food Depot has long depended upon will soon be back in stock.
Hindered by the pandemic for more than a year, The Food Depot is resuming in-person food drives next month as demand for free meals from Northern New Mexico’s food bank remains well above pre-pandemic levels.
“For New Mexico to get back on its feet, we expect that this is going to take a while,” said Food Depot Events and Outreach Coordinator Tim Fowler. “Even if everybody is vaccinated tomorrow, that doesn’t mean hunger drops off tomorrow.”
According to a Food Depot survey in Santa Fe County, the number of residents without consistent access to sufficient healthy food increased from 1 in 6 children before the pandemic to 1 in 3 now. The organization distributed 804,577 meals each month in 2020 compared to 439,195 a month in 2019.
On May 4, The Food Depot will host a Star Wars-themed food drive at its facility at 1222 A Siler Road. The food bank cannot accept perishable, frozen, home-cooked or home-canned foods, or opened packages of food.
“Monetary donations have been very important. Us and every food bank in New Mexico would be in very dire straits without those,” Fowler said. “Because of constraints of the pandemic, food donations had been put on hold, so this is a nice hands-on way for the community to make a contribution that is very tangible.”
Those who advocate to end childhood hunger around the state received a boost Tuesday when the U.S. Department of Agriculture extended a universal free school meal program through the end of the 2021-22 school year. The program, which reimburses districts for school meals for every student instead of just those who qualify under poverty guidelines, was set to expire in September.
Betsy Cull, director of student nutrition at Santa Fe Public Schools, said the district can rack up $40,000 in school lunch debt in a school year. While cafeterias served around 7,500 lunches a day before the pandemic, the district now serves around 2,000 per day with some students back on campus.
“It’s good news. It’s definitely going to help. I am always a little concerned about negative balances,” Cull said. “Hopefully our meal counts will increase because everyone is eating free.”
