Over the years, Las Cruces High School has proven to be a beacon school when it comes to providing a food pantry for their fellow Bulldawgs and families in the community. In addition, LCHS provides a closet filled with clothing for students who could use the support.
Source: Las Cruces Public Schools
LCPS Article and Photo By: Samantha Lewis
Originally posted: August 15, 2024
This year, LCHS was awarded $2,500 in grant funding for their food pantry through the Albertsons Companies Foundation Nourishing Neighbors Program. The grant funding is part of “Explore. Act. Tell.” a free experiential learning program that teaches students to understand and act on solutions to end food insecurity in their community.
On the second Monday of every month, LCHS hosts a food distribution drive-thru in the B-wing parking lot at 8:30a.m. All major student organizations and clubs take part in packaging boxes for families to distribute over 100 boxes of meals monthly.
“We have the largest pantry in the district and the only high school to have both a pantry and clothing closet,” said Annette Contreras, LCPS Title I Interventionist. “We actually supply the districts McKinney Vento Program with food for families throughout the district because of prior donations and grants we received. This concept is one that works for our community, and hopefully it can serve as a model for other schools in the district,” Contreras added.
The goal is to work and teach the youth in our community to be engaged citizens and become aware of food insecurity issues in their neighborhood. Using a project based learning strategy, students will:
- EXPLORE a topic
- Design ways to ACT on solutions by implementing a project and competing for grant funds to share with deserving organizations
- TELL Your Story: Using a recap of the project and results, along with photos and a video, students share their story so others can join the action to fight hunger.
If you’d like to help support the Bulldawgs in their valiant effort to fight hunger, community members can drop off donations by contacting Annette Contreras at acontrer@lcps.net or call 575-527-6725. LCHS will be accepting donations for canned food items, produce, clothing and monetary donations throughout the year.
