Saturday, December 8, 2007

Community generosity keeps food bank open

Roadrunner Food Bank forced to close in December due to high fuel costs

Evelyn Cronce El Defensor Chieftain Reporter

The budget crisis at the Albuquerque Roadrunner Food Bank has affected The Storehouse in Socorro, but not enough to stop the distribution of food.

"We're going to make it through December because of the generosity and caring of the community of Socorro," said Director Valerie Key.

The Roadrunner Food Bank was forced to cancel December orders to other storehouses in the region when high fuel costs exhausted their budget.

Key said the Storehouse was aware that the crisis was looming for the last three or four weeks and did have some opportunity to prepare. She credited the local food drives and the generous donations from residents with making it possible for the food bank to stay open.

Key explained that commodities would be affected the most.

"We will still give out a box of food to our commodities recipients, but it will not be the same as they are used to getting," said Key.

Key said there were some commodities warehoused in the old senior center building in Magdalena.

"It's kind of good we had a little bit of a stash," she said.

Key said the food bank volunteers would be packing all the boxes as abundantly as possible, especially for the holiday season.

The problem comes from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Emergency Food Assistance Program, which supplies New Mexico with about $950,000 a year to buy commodity food for between 50,000 and 60,000 households in the state, said Laurel Wyckoff, New Mexico Association of Food Banks executive director. The program has run out of money one month too soon, the Albuquerque Journal reported.

The Storehouse in Socorro will be closed on Dec. 27, but Key said this is an annual closure and is not related to any shortages.

"It's the one day of the year I get off," she quipped.

Key said the food bank in Socorro does not expect to be getting a shipment from the Roadrunner Food Bank until well into January. She said the Albuquerque location expects to receive their food the first week or so of January. Once the food is in Albuquerque, Socorro will start receiving shipments again.

ecronce@dchieftain.com

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