Hunger Education Week 2023 Articles Concluded
La Puente’s Hunger Education Week 2023 wrapped up on Friday May 12th 2023. This week’s events are designed to bring awareness to hunger so the community can rally together to bring it to an end. We saw the community join together in the wide variety of events to fight hunger, not just locally, but worldwide.
The week started on Sunday, May 7th outside the Senior Center at Cole Park for our annual CROP Walk. Over 60 participants and volunteers joined in on the educational 5K in solidarity for those experiencing food and water insecurity. Members from local organizations, churches and clubs came out to support the cause.
On Wednesday, May 10th volunteers for the Food Bank of the San Luis Valley set up outside the entrances of Alamosa’s Safeway and City Market to collect shelf stable food items for pantry shelves and monetary donations. The community came together collecting 986.5 lbs of food and raised $359.69 to keep the mission going. Annually the Food Bank Network of the San Luis Valley distributes 13 tons of food to feed out neighbors here in the SLV, to ensure that no one must go to bed hungry.
On Thursday, May 11th Cooking Matters held a Pop-up tour at the Alamosa Food Pantry. Volunteers educated community members on making informed healthy food choices while on a budget. Hunger is not a calorie issue, it’s a nutritional one. Cooking Matter strives to teach better eating habits and address hunger at the same time. Participate received a $10 City Market gift card upon completing the tour.
Hunger Education Week may be over, but the work to end hunger is not. Hunger still is here in the SLV. One in four in this community suffers from food insecurity. There is still plenty to be done and ways to help. The Food Bank Network is always taking food donations and Valley Educational Gardens Initiative (VEGI) are always looking for hands to help grow fresh produce in the community gardens. To learn more about ways to help at La Puente and support it’s hunger-relief you can go to https://lapuentehome.org/food-bank/ or call 719-589-4567.