Combating child hunger, health care access: Organization forming new event

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — There are new efforts to help with growing problems for New Mexico children. An organization is holding events to increase access to food and health care—two issues that the pandemic has made worse.

Boxes and boxes of food went into the cars of families who needed them during an event at Robert F. Kennedy Charter School in southwest Albuquerque, which helped more than 100 families.

“It means a lot because it’s always stuff we don’t have or stuff we can’t afford,” said Deborah Montoya, who lives nearby and was getting food for 4-year-old grandson. “It’s very important. You couldn’t even imagine how important it is.”

Hunger is a growing problem. One in three children are food insecure in New Mexico compared to one in four before the pandemic, according to multiple organizations who study the issue.

Many groups are working overtime to help, including food banks, local schools, and the federal and state government, but the organization New Mexico Appleseed, which combats poverty, wants to do more.

“Our goal, since the pandemic, is to add to those sites,” said Daniel Valverde, director of community outreach at New Mexico Appleseed.

In a new event Thursday, Appleseed did a test-run of what it hopes will be a far-reaching project: bolstering food donations and adding health care services.

“I think for a lot of individuals who don’t get all these services just because they don’t make so much money, being low income, they don’t have access to these services. We’re seeing a lot of families who do not have medical services. They don’t have primary care services,” Valverde said.

Multiple groups, including Western Sky Community Care, worked to give out flu shots.

“It’s important because we have to make sure people are still receiving the resources that they need, and with the pandemic, that has escalated to a whole other level,” said Wendy Santiesteban, marketing and community relations supervisor.

And a local dental clinic gave free care.

“That’s more important than anything I think because you can’t even go to the dentist because you can’t afford it,” Montoya said.

New Mexico Appleseed hopes to add vision and mental health resources in future events.

These are badly needed services for the state’s children.

“The people who need these services, they’re going to need it after the pandemic. The pandemic exacerbated these issues, but they’re not going to go away once everyone gets the vaccine,” Valverde said.

So why haven’t there been events like this more often?

These groups say the logistics and coordination can be difficult to manage. They’ll need to get the word out so people will show up, and they would really benefit from more help from state departments and school systems, which are already working toward the same goals during the pandemic.

New Mexico Appleseed believes Thursday’s event proves the idea can become a reality statewide. It has other locations in mind and is looking for more organizations to partner with.