Hunger Around the Nation: Focus on Albuquerque, New Mexico

By Paula L. Smith-Vanderslice

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(Albuquerque, Sept. 14, 2003)

The RRFB is funded by United Way, and is an operating agency of America’s Second Harvest (http://www.secondharvest.org), which administers food banks across the United States.

Melody Wattenbarger has served as executive director for seven years here, with more than 20 years’ experience in food banking. RRFB began with the vision of a minister, Titus Scholl, who attended one of the earliest Second Harvest food bank conferences in 1978. Inspired by this conference, he used his private savings to donate $20,000 to start the food bank, a generous gesture setting an example for others to follow, creating a harvest for the hungry.

Elizabeth Pearce, Food for Kids program manager and volunteer coordinator, says RRFB is, "central distribution and receiving for the state of New Mexico." It also works with food banks in other cities in the state as a member of the New Mexico Association of Food Banks.

Photo: Paula Smith-Vanderslice

Elizabeth Pearce, Program Manager/Volunteer Coordinator, Roadrunner Food Bank of New Mexico, with the roadrunner bird mural in background

America’s Second Harvest provides six trucks from its regional center in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma for New Mexico’s facility, based in Albuquerque. RRFB distributes approximately one million pounds of food each month, with 60 to 70 percent of this being produce.

The horn of plenty, or cornucopia, and food "bank safe" images pop into commuters’ heads as they drive by the Food Bank, on busy Gibson Boulevard. The mural was completed in September, 1997, and is titled, "Corre Camino." A cooperative creation of the RRFB and Working Classroom, Inc., sponsors who helped make it happen include nearby Kirtland Air Force Base (551^st Special Operations Squadron), Keep Albuquerque Beautiful, and AFL-CIO Community Services, including local trade unions of painters (Local #823), laborers (Local #16), and bricklayers (Local #1).

Photo: Paula Smith-Vanderslice

"Banking safe" mural, titled, "Corre Camino," Roadrunner Food Bank of New Mexico, with writer of this article in foreground.

Inside the food bank, in addition to produce, one sees 32,000 square feet of warehousing of dry, packaged foodstuffs, meeting mandatory Food and Drug Administration (FDA) standards, including for refrigeration, without which it would be shut down on random inspection, Pearce says. Food is processed by the 21 paid staff, as well as volunteers. All who go to work on the sorting line watch a training video, where they learn about U.S.D.A. labeling. Volunteers represent a variety of organizations-- local high schools and middle schools, civic groups, faith-based groups, those in the juvenile justice program and Metro Drug Court as well as groups from corporations and Kirtland Air Force Base.

Food comes from various donors, including mainstream and ethnic specialty food stores, such as the local Farmer’s Markets, farms, brand name food and drink manufacturers, receiving homes, dairies, and thrift stores. The donating organizations help RRFB by giving food that would otherwise be thrown away and wasted upon reaching its expiration date. For homeless or near-homeless, who sometimes need to choose between buying food and paying rent, the food bank fills their stomachs for free.

RRFB is the distribution point for 602 pantries, shelters, and soup kitchens statewide. Most, 60 percent, are serving more people than three years ago, and 41 percent report that they have turned hungry people away when there isn’t enough food available to feed them, indicating an increase in hungry persons and the need for more food to be made available for distribution by suppliers.

Photo: Paula Smith-Vanderslice

Cornucopia mural, Roadrunner Food Bank of New Mexico.

But much is being done to fight hunger cooperatively on the local and national levels. The food bank organizes two large, local food drives in Albuquerque during the year, the National Association of Letter Carriers’ food drive, a national program effort, the week before Thanksgiving, when temporary surplus can be spread out over the lean winter months, and the spring drive the day before Mother’s Day in May. The Albuquerque Journal newspaper inserts empty bags into their papers for delivery so that customers can fill them with food.

Restaurants have participated for the past eight years in the annual RRFB’s Souper Bowl the day before the pro football contest by the same name, so participants can still celebrate with a party feast during the big game. On Jan. 25, 2003, 26 restaurants and bakeries brought soup and desserts to RRFB’s warehouse for a tasting event with 600 guests in attendance, and many local and national franchise businesses contributed items for a silent auction. This single day’s event raised $22,000, with participation by the public the key in fundraising.

Year round, approximately 7 percent of food donations at RRFB are from individuals, with the majority of food coming from larger organizations. However, individuals are responsible for the largest amount of money donations, at 43 percent.

The statistical reality is that hunger in New Mexico shows its face by gender and age of development as 63 percent adult and female, with an even division of 37 percent for male adults and all children, in an average household size of 2.5 persons, with a monthly income of $673, with 46 percent of these households having at least one working adult. Forty-five percent of these people have no working telephone or car, making it more difficult to communicate their needs or get themselves to a shelter or pantry. As 27 percent of these people have to decide between paying for food or paying for medicine, a serious issue for those with chronic disease like diabetes, their health is also further compromised, making it increasingly more difficult to compete for resources. Competing for resources in a compromised state of health and without ready cash is mentally draining, especially for children in developmental stages who may never fully recover during their lifetime to the level of vitality they could have experienced, were it not for complications arising from hunger.

RRFB direct services programs target low-income seniors, Native Americans, low-income housing, and children. The Food for Kids program, begun by RRFB two years ago, serves kids in the U.S. state with the highest level of childhood poverty, at 27 percent. The food bank serves 66,000 children each year, with the families of 20,000 children seeking emergency food assistance each week. The Food for Kids program anticipates supplying approximately 4,000 kids in 23 low-income elementary schools in 2003-04, with twice as many being served as anticipated at the program’s inception two years ago, creating a wait list of schools that want to get into the program.

According to Pearce, Food for Kids works like this: When a school recognizes that a child isn’t getting enough food, backpacks that are provided by RRFB are filled with "kid-friendly" food, like pre-packaged juice with straws, and given to the child to take home. In this way, the school fills in for an undernourished child when the family cannot.

For undernourished children, the "kid-friendly" packaging encourages the child to eat, as it requires no adult hands to open it, is safe to handle, and looks fun to eat. Psychologically, when interacting with his or her wealthier peers, it’s less embarrassing in the short term, and potentially less damaging in the long term to the self-esteem of the child who is given a backpack with food in it than the alternative, doing without food. This food provides important nutrients for children who are receiving less than 70 percent of recommended dietary intakes for 10 major nutrients, according to America’s Second Harvest. These nutrients are food energy-calories, folate, iron, magnesium, thiamin, vitamin A, vitamin B6, vitamin C, vitamin E, and zinc.

In summer, children don’t benefit from the help they receive from school programs during the year, although about one-fourth of those receiving assistance from breakfast and lunch programs during the year participated in the Summer Food Service Program, in New Mexico as well as nationwide, according to U.S.D.A. program data. For more information on RRFB, see their website at:http://www.rrfb.org

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Paula L. Smith-Vanderslice, B.S., is copy editor of Hunger Notes.

This story is copyrighted.

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