The challenge is on to feed our neighbors
As September nears, the eighth annual Neighbor to Neighbor Food Drive, the largest food drive in Northern New Mexico benefiting The Food Depot, is gearing up for a huge challenge.
The month of September is National Hunger Action month when neighborhoods and communities across the U.S. are encouraged to take action against hunger and make a difference in their community.
Our greater Santa Fe area, with an estimated 300 to 350 city and county neighborhoods and communities, is challenged to take this action. If many of the communities accept, their participation could easily surpass the goal for this year’s food drive. If communities would step up to join all the other neighborhoods — no matter the size or age — that one single day, Sept. 21, think of the power and the limitless possibilities of how much food we could raise.
What action can you take to join this year’s food drive? Between now and September, gather a group of volunteers in your community, set up your own community food drive with guidance and materials we
provide, and decide on a central drop-off location. To participate, register your neighborhood before Sept. 1.
Encourage the neighbors to donate bags of nonperishable food, as well as write a small check for The Food Depot. Every $1 is equal to five pounds of food, which is significant. Even if half the number of communities joined this year, it could make a big difference for those neighbors who are struggling, often going to bed hungry.
Last year the Neighbor to Neighbor Food Drive beat all records with 106 neighborhoods and communities, which collected in combination of money and food, 241,116 pounds for The Food Depot. This year, the goal is to increase the number of communities to more than 120, but more importantly, to collect, counting both cash donations and nonperishable food, at least 275,000 pounds or more to benefit The Food Depot and its many programs.
The more we collect, the more we can make a small dent in hunger. We have a long way to go before we are able to stamp out hunger in Northern New Mexico. However, each year this food drive has broken the previous year’s record and fed a lot of hungry people. That is the mission.
In Santa Fe County alone, there are close to 18,500 food-insecure people. Even worse, of that number, more than 6,000 are children. Why? Why does anyone have to go to bed hungry, especially children? By taking just one day out of our busy lives to stand together, we can make a huge difference.
Step up to the challenge and get your neighborhood, community or nonresidential/business “community “to join this important cause — to help end hunger in Northern New Mexico.
To get involved and register for the Neighbor to Neighbor Food Drive, contact the coordinators: Linda Wilder Flatt, 505474-8028; Jane Freeman, 505-310-7431; or Dot Greene at The Food Depot, 505-428-1633. Find all the details at thefooddepot.org/n2n. We can do this.