"It just makes us feel happy to be able to know that people will not go hungry," he said. The more that we give, there's people coming around asking for more," he said.Īt times it's stressful, but there are organizations that can help. He said that, initially, they were dropping off food to 30 families. Since the enactment of New Mexico's public health order, Marin said his organization has also seen an increase in the need for food. Others are reading: Rapid response at Rinconada Walmart after another employee tests positive "So, we've taken it over there and dropped it off personally to every single one of them." "We've been going out to the communities where we feel that there's a lot of people in need and a lot of people that aren't able to get to these food banks," he said. One of those distributors, Pastor Carlos Marin - who oversees a ministry called Beyond Expectations - said his organization takes food donations to people who can't drive to distribution points themselves. "What's happening now with the non-perishables comes at just the right moment - so that we don't have to stop caring for people or stop feeding people," Adams said. "It will just be different." Beyond expectationsĪnd as soon as the food was unloaded from the semi-truck, some distributors were already lined up in order to take it to their pantries. Subscribe to the Las Cruces Sun-News today. And, though they've submitted a renewal, they haven't heard back yet. Next week, however, that program will come to an end. "So it was redistributing them to the hungry, through organizations that already have contact with the community." "It's that farm-to-table program, so farmers whose crops were rotting in the field and they couldn't sell them," she said. So when we've distributed 1,500 - or 1,700 or 3,000 boxes - we feed, maybe, 10,000 a week."Īnd that's been going on since April, in collaboration with the Sand Organization - part of the CARES Act, Adams said. "If you take one box, it should feed a family of four. I wanted to feed 5,000 every week," Adams said. "When this started, I really had a goal of just using Jesus and feeding the 5,000. But, since the public health emergency was enacted in New Mexico, it has been distributing a minimum of 4,000 to 5,000 pounds of fresh produce each week. "The City of Deming - the city, not a church - came to pick up 400 boxes yesterday," said Associate Pastor Thomas Bulger.īy Thursday, the church had given a total of 30,000 food boxes to community members throughout the region, he saidįaith-based organization Liaison Freida Adams said Heart for the World Church has always had a small food pantry. On Tuesdays, representatives from 35 churches across southern New Mexico come to pick up food boxes to distribute in their communities. Clear said receiving the shipment in Las Cruces is wonderful. The Bishop's Storehouse, which is a warehouse about a city-block long, distributes goods to communities in need, both nationally and internationally, he said. "The Borderland here, essentially New Mexico, has food issue problems, essentially they're number one in food for children and number eight nationally, the church is very much aware of it," said Leo Clear, a representative of The Church of Jesus Christ. The one-time donation from The Bishop's Storehouse in Utah, was organized by members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. LAS CRUCES - Early Thursday morning, a group of about 20 volunteers gathered at Heart for the World Church in Las Cruces to offload 50,000 pounds of non-perishable food from a semi-truck that will be distributed throughout southern New Mexico to those in need.