Every month, University of New Mexico students and others can get free groceries through the Lobo Food Pantry program. The next Lobo Food Pantry date is July 12, 2019, 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. while supplies last.
The mobile food pantry is a truckload of food that is distributed to community members, where people can fill a box or two with the items they need.
The Hope Center for College, Community and Justice released a report in April of this year that showed that 41% of four-year university students across the nation are food insecure. Last year, the state of New York mandated that all public colleges and universities provide mobile food pantries for their students.
According to the New Mexico Department of Health’s Indicator Based Information System (NM-IBIS), 1 in 6 New Mexicans (15.5%) and 1 in 4 children (24%) live in homes without consistent access to adequate food.
UNM student Meghan Goodart and 2019 Greek Week Chair said that in 2019 the Greek Community raised $25,000 for Lobo Food Pantry.
“We usually do outsourced philanthropies but this year, I really wanted to focus on community building,” she said.
According to Goodart, the Lobo Food Pantry doesn’t always have enough funds to work with Roadrunner Food Bank. She said that each mobile food pantry costs about $1600 to run. These costs include UNM facilities maintenance staff to set-up and clean up the area after the event has taken place.
The upcoming Lobo Food Pantry will be located on South Campus in South Lot (the parking lot East of the Football stadium, near the soccer field). The UNM South Lot shuttle will be available as transportation.
Lissa Knudsen is a freelance news reporter for the Daily Lobo. She can be contacted at news@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @lissaknudsen
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