Sunland Park, Casa de Peregrinos to hold meeting about new food pantry

EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) – The City of Sunland Park and Casa de Peregrinos, the emergency food program, will be hosting a community meeting at 5:30 p.m. Monday, Nov. 27 at the Doña Ana Community College located at 3365 McNutt Rd. to ask for input about a new food pantry for the city and the surrounding area.

The city has committed to building a new food pantry, which will be opening in the winter of 2025, to be operated by Casa Peregrinos to serve the southern part of Doña Ana County, according to a press release sent by the emergency food program.

According to the press release, the city has dedicated a piece of land to build this pantry and $1,350,000 million was committed by the New Mexico State Legislature for planning and development in the 2023 session. The planning and design are underway.

“We need community input now, to determine how this pantry can best serve the community,” said Lorenzo Alba, Jr., Executive Director of Casa de Peregrinos. “We hope the community will join us to provide advice about programming, operations, and other resources that this pantry can provide.”

“We are working with the City of Sunland Park to build this pantry to address the poverty and food insecurity, which is rampant in this region, the lack of full-service grocery stores, and the shortage of community food services,” said Alba.

“We want to improve the quality of life in Sunland Park and make community development a part of the economic development that is happening in the region” concluded Alba.

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