DEPOT DISPATCH
We All Have a Hand in Ending Hunger
September is Hunger Action Month! Celebrate program developments, new partnerships, and the many ways you can be part of the movement to end hunger in Northern New Mexico. How will you take action?
FY25 Highlights
PAGE 4-5
HAM CALENDAR
PAGE 12-13
New Food Mobile Trailers PAGE 16-17 Four New Commercials PAGE 19
Executive Director's Desk Volunteers of the Month Voter Checklist Staff Scrapbook
NORTHERN NEW MEXICO’S FOOD BANK
The Food Depot Board & Staff
Thomas Jensen, President V. Brian D'Andrea, Vice President • Jeremy Miller, Treasurer • Scott Bunton, Secretary • Bill Sveum, Ph.D., Member at Large
Noah Berke • Rubina Cohen • Steven Coleman
Mary Ferguson
Sandra Mitiko Higaskino-Greene
Barbara Houser
Deborah Trouw
Len Rand • Rachel Rogers
Andrea Vigil
STAFF
Julie Aboud
Scott Alexander
Amber Anastasion
Juan Aniceto
Andrew Aragon
Robyn Archuleta
Julia Barrett
Steven Bolin
Kayla Bostic
Amanda Bregel
Elier Chacon
Sky Chatuchinda
Zamir Crispin
Jill Dixon
Fernando Garcia
Atom Green
Cecilia Gutierrez
Dave Halerz
Russell Johnson
Manuel Lovato
Samuel Madrid-Huerta
Wayne Martin
Want to Get Involved?
Donate
You can make a monetary donation:
Online: thefooddepot.org
Over the phone: 505-510-5890
From the Executive Director's Desk
“We all have a hand in ending hunger.”
hands at work. Without their efforts, our movement to end hunger would not be possible. In this last fiscal year, volunteers’ hands sorted and packed millions of pounds of fresh produce and loaded those groceries into client cars and baskets.
Vilma Martinez
Diana Moncada
Louie Montano
Ashlynn Montoya
Pauline Montoya
Jakobe Platero
Aaron Rodriguez
Debra Romero
Diego Salinas
James Sanchez
Jerome Sanchez
Maria Sanchez
Sal Sandoval
Fred Santistevan
Ralanda Shroulote
Michael Silva
Cathy Sisneros
Jacob Tharp Eralie
Sigifredo Caslilas Varela
Shairy Vargas
Alma Vega
Olivia Villalpando
Jerry Wagner
The Food Depot is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, non-partisan, and equal opportunity employer.
Advocate
You can make a difference by advocating for food security in New Mexico by following us on social media @thefooddepot or by visiting thefooddepot. org/advocacy.
Volunteer
The Food Depot is in need of volunteers! Repack food at the Santa Fe warehouse or volunteer at a food distribution.
Learn about our many opportunities and join our team at thefooddepot.org/ volunteer.
Give volunteering a try the Second Saturday of each month! No formal application required. Kids are welcome! Go to thefooddepot.org/ volunteer to sign up for a Saturday shift.
This phrase may be the theme of our Hunger Action Month campaign, but these words represent so much to me. Ending hunger takes a community of hands taking action, and every action is meaningful. Our hands help end hunger by sorting produce, donating funds, loading food, and hosting fundraisers. We also see movement to end hunger when hands hold a microphone to advocate or fill in ovals on a ballot.
There are many hands at The Food Depot dear to me - hands critical to our mission.
In the photo on this page I’m standing with Fred Santistevan, a Taos native who has driven with The Food Depot for almost 15 years. His hands have guided pallets into trucks and held a steering wheel steady for hundreds of thousands of miles. At every stop on his route, our partners’ hands will distribute food to their community. You will read about one of these newest partners in this edition, Clayton’s Golden Spread Rural Frontier Coalition.
This month I want to challenge your hands and heart to take action to end hunger. Use the calendar in this edition to discover new, easy ways to engage with our work. Be part of Neighbor to Neighbor. Join me by talking with a friend about hunger, supporting a local farmer, or donating empty egg cartons. Every gift is doubled when you give toward our $100,000 match. In ways big and small, every hand can help create a food-secure future.
Within these pages you’ll also see our dedicated volunteers with their
Longtime staff member Fred Santistevan and I take a break from loading trunks at The Food Depot’s Siler Road distribution.
Celebrate the Fiscal Year!
During fiscal year 2025 (FY25), The Food Depot staff, volunteers, and partners were busy working to end hunger in Northern New Mexico.
Check out more of our collective impact from July 2024-June 2025 in our annual report at thefooddepot.org/resourcesand-reports/.
The Food Depot delivers a healthy mix of food to programs and partners, from pantry staples and grains to fresh produce and proteins.
We source from across the Southwest and rescue food from grocery partners, with most purchases focused on fruits and vegetables. In FY25, produce made up more than half of our distribution and protein exceeded 15%, surpassing our goals once again.
Overall Impact
9.8 million pounds of food and resources 681,000 meals distributed per month
Volunteers gave 23,700 hours of service to food security efforts in FY25!
There are approximately 43,000 people experiencing food insecurity across The Food Depot’s nine county, 26,000 mile service area.
Taking Action:
Hands on Volunteers
“Joyous. Interesting. Inspiring.”
That’s how Andrea Slatopolsky, a recent Volunteer of the Month, describes her experience volunteering at The Food Depot. After hearing her story, it’s easy to see why.
Since 2022, Andrea has been a familiar presence at many food bank programs: the Siler Road drive-thru pantry, Diaper Depot, and Food Mobiles. A lifelong social worker, volunteering is an extension of what she has always loved to do: connect people to resources and care.
“I have always admired the work that The Food Depot has done,” she explains.” In all of the jobs I’ve had for 35 years in Santa Fe, I’ve always known about the food bank’s good
work. Especially during the pandemic, when a lot of families were struggling because they were out of work, volunteering was a no-brainer. It was an easy way to step in and connect with people one-on-one and help them access resources that we all need.”
Andrea’s time at The Food Depot has deepened her connection to the community. She often signs up for shifts with her friend and fellow volunteer, Edna. On one cold winter day, a client came back through the line to give Andrea a winter hat to keep her warm. Moments like this are a reminder of the mutual joy we all share.
“There are these two young guys at the Siler morning food distribution,” she shares. “They are so kind and they are funny, funny guys. Just always laughing. Always. I love that. And volunteering is a real joy too. You are doing work that everybody is appreciative of. It’s nice to be a part of something that you like doing and that others are thankful for.”
Join Andrea, and the rest of The Food Depot’s wonderful volunteers, by signing up at: https://thefooddepot. org/volunteer/
Celebrating our Volunteers of the Month and the many ways they take action at The Food Depot!
Marilyn Lewis
Patick Lopez
Linda Rodriguez Brandt
Kayla Norris
Danielle Voorhees
Bonnie Kiang
Marcia Lenihan
Meena Sachdeva
Nina Arko-Hay
Beau Lippman
Lisa Sandoval
Norma Avery VFW Group
Frederike Schmager
Joani Puma Bennet
Mary Jo McBean
Louisa Birnbaum
Fidely Nathanson
Ishwari Sollohub
Phyllis Bustamante
Frank Nordstrum
Nico Taccetti
Paul Dillon
Mark Padilla
Christy Weed
Dwight Finkel
Timothy Pemberton
Bob Wolf
Othoniel Franco
Kimberly Pollock
Jim and Toby Wright
Sally Guenther
Edna Reyes-Wilson
Dick Goldsmith
Taking Action with Enterprise Bank & Trust
A Culture of Community and Civic- Mindedness
Enterprise Bank & Trust is more than a place where people can be guided to financial success. For Regional President Dion Silva, the financial institution has a responsibility to be a good steward of the local community.
“We cannot be a healthy, sustainable organization if we don’t live in a healthy and sustainable community,” Dion explains. “We have the ability to give, so we are dedicated to being leaders who give back.”
Enterprise leads by example by supporting a wide range of nonprofit partners, including The Food Depot. Since the mid-2000s, the bank has sponsored food bank events and programs financially. In recent years, senior leadership has also made a significant investment in employee volunteer opportunities through a
program called VTO (Volunteer Time Off).
VTO reflects Enterprise’s innovation and its dedication to both associates and the community. The idea began when a mid-level manager noticed that one of her associates did not have time off for a parent-teacher conference. She suggested to upper management: could the bank provide paid time for important personal commitments, such as meeting with teachers, chaperoning field trips, or volunteering? That suggestion grew into the VTO program, now offered in all Enterprise regions across the country. Every employee receives
“We believe in food security, education, and supporting families and youth,” Dion shares. “These hours give our associates the ability to give back. They want to put their efforts into their community where we can make a real difference, so we make it easy for them to participate.”
Enterprise associates can use VTO on their own or join group volunteer activities, such as preparing meals with Kitchen Angels or sorting and packing food at The Food Depot each month. The Santa Fe region consistently records some of the highest volunteer participation in the company. “Our goal is over 1,200 volunteer hours this year,” says Dion.
Food security is an issue close to Dion’s heart and to many Enterprise associates. Dion’s grandfather was a butcher in Taos who would extend credit to neighbors who could not afford their grocery bills. His mother was a social worker. While his family taught him to help neighbors, his career at Enterprise has expanded that empathy to the wider community.
This culture of service has been especially meaningful for younger
As of July 2025, Enterprise has volunteered 145 hours at the Siler Road warehouse!
associates who are still learning how to give back.
“We all have something to give,” Dion emphasizes. “Some people may think what they give is not enough, but even small things add up. That’s what Enterprise believes. We can all do something.”
The Food Depot is thankful to Enterprise Bank & Trust for their longtime support of food-secure futures.
Enterprise Bank & Trust staff members are dedicated to healthy futures.
Taking Action: Expanding Diaper Access
in Northern
New Mexico
A healthy family means more than a full dinner table. In 2014, The Food Depot was distributing millions of pounds of food each year, but a noticeable gap became clear. Families also needed a basic essential, diapers.
Over the past decade, Diaper Depot distributions have helped thousands of babies stay clean and comfortable, while giving parents reliable access to an important resource. Weekly supplies of diapers and wipes have long been available at The Food Depot’s Siler Road warehouse, at Casita de Comida no-cost market, and through a network of nonprofit partner agencies.
In 2025, the program entered a new phase of growth. The Food Depot wanted to reach more families and ensure equitable access across its nine-county service area. In March, a monthly diaper distribution launched in Española to better serve Rio Arriba County. Around the same time, staff began reviewing the program’s structure and assessing nonprofit partners to ensure diaper distributions were reaching New Mexico’s families.
By July, a new ordering process was in place for nonprofit partners, and new agencies had joined the Diaper Depot network. These partners are intentionally diverse, including transitional housing programs, schools, a community college, church pantries, rural community centers and food programs, home delivery programs, and counseling services for young families. For example, diapers are now available in more urban areas like Santa Fe Community College and the more rural Jicarilla Apache Child and Family Education
Do you know someone who needs diapers? Give our Navigators a call! (505) 531-5556
Center and Raton Hunger Pantry. This variety of partners helps diapers reach families experiencing many different circumstances across nine
Each Diaper Depot partner can place a monthly order for diapers from The Food Depot, often pairing their diaper order with food deliveries, which can be made on a more regular basis. Offering diapers alongside food distributions means families can meet multiple needs in a single visit, saving time, transportation costs, and stress.
In addition to partner agency sites, The Food Depot continues to hold four diaper distributions each month at our Siler Road warehouse.
Families can visit once a month to receive diapers, wipes, children’s books, baby food, and pantry staples all in one convenient stop.
An average US family spends $80 to $100 per month on diapers per child, up to $1,000 a year.
This cost can cause caregivers to miss work or school due to not having enough diapers to drop children off at childcare.
Amber Anastasion, Diaper Depot Program Coordinator, works at the Española distribution.
A client picks up diapers and pantry goods at the Santa Fe warehouse.
Families can also pick up pantry goods and baby items at Diaper Depot in Santa Fe and Española.
Taking Action:
The small, rural town of Clayton, New Mexico, holds many wonders: from one of the oldest movie theaters in America to fossilized dinosaur footprints.
Now, it has a new landmark: the first permanent food pantry in Union County.
On May 28, 2025, Golden Spread Community Food Pantry opened its doors as The Food Depot’s first nonprofit partner in Union County. Until now, The Food Depot’s monthly Mobile Food Pantries were the only source of charitable food assistance in the area. Golden Spread will be open four days each month, providing a consistent and reliable source of groceries for Clayton and the surrounding communities. The pantry is led by Rusty Kohler, a Project Manager at Golden Spread Rural Frontier Coalition. The nonprofit offers public transportation, provides daily
care, manages low income housing, and runs a thrift shop.
Two years ago, Rusty reached out to The Food Depot with an idea. He had a donated building and a dream to start a food pantry. Over the next 18 months, Rusty and his team renovated the old “Pixie Building” little by little and secured funding to purchase equipment.
The Food Depot fulfilled a major need, donating and installing a $33,000 walk-in refrigerator. According to Rusty, the walk-in, “really got the project going.”
Ready, Set, Open!
On May 27, less than 24 hours before opening day, The Food Depot staff arrived at Golden Spread to tour the space, offer final support, and share in the excitement. Rusty and his two food pantry employees, Bryan Lark and Julia Cryer, had been stocking food all morning.
“I know so many families need this pantry,” Julia shared. “Members of my own family are struggling and living without utilities. I’ve encouraged them and other people I know to come pick up food.”
As the group talked, a woman from the pharmacy next door wandered in. When she learned the “Pixie Store” was now a food pantry, she lit up. “That’s fantastic! How excellent! Good to know. Good to know. I’ll tell people. Good job, guys.” Several others who stopped by that afternoon shared the same enthusiasm.
“You can see we’re really excited to get started,” Brian added. His own mother had come by that afternoon to admire the group's work preparing the space for clients. Golden Spread runs as a choicebased model, so clients will be able to choose a certain quantity of
can visit once a week or twice a month.
Before opening day, The Food Depot had delivered multiple pallets full of food to Golden Spread. However, Rusty had one hope for that first week: “I hope not one can is left in this building. Because I know people need it.”
Rusty’s hopes were realized. Golden Spread served 185 families the first two days. In June, weekly attendance soared between 300 and 500 families each week. In July, The Food Depot was able to fulfill another one of Rusty’s dreams: offering diapers to local families.
“I know single mothers in this town that do desperate things to buy diapers for their kids. They’re working, but they just can’t afford them. We’ve got to do something about that.” As part of the Diaper Depot program, Golden Spread will have an order of diapers delivered monthly.
Congratulations to Rusty, Julia, Bryan, and the Golden Spread Rural Frontier Coalition for their dedication to opening Union County’s first permanent food pantry and for the impact they are already making in their community.
Rusty, Julia, and Brian stand in front of the walk-in donated by The Food Depot.
Golden Spread Community Pantry is a choice-based program.
Local children thanked the pantry staff for providing food for a local summer program.
Winning, Learning, and Taking Action Celebrating our New Food Mobiles!
The Food Depot’s longtime Executive Director, Sherry Hooper, often remarked about how, as a young kid, she’d always loved the Bookmobile. An avid reader, she appreciated how the library program increased accessibility to every socioeconomic status, even in the most rural areas. In late 2020, Sherry mused that she’d love to turn an old Bookmobile into a Food Mobile. Several months later, serendipity stepped in when one of The Food Depot’s drivers spotted a lonely, decommissioned Bluebird Bookmobile in a field.
The Food Mobile was born.
You’ve seen it: the big blue bus covered in colorful, animated, dancing food. Since its launch in 2021, the Food Mobile has increased access to groceries for
more than 3,500 people each month at 13 locations in the greater Santa Fe County area, including schools, a library, and senior living communities. It also became The Food Depot’s first opportunity to provide client choice. At each distribution, people were offered a menu of available foods, made their selections, and volunteers filled bags based on their choices. The goal was to provide nutritious food while preserving dignity through choice, conveying respect to those being served. The Food Mobile has been beautiful, but imperfect.
A good friend of The Food Depot once told our staff: “You’re either winning, or you’re learning.” Therefore, imperfection is a reality food bankers must uncomfortably embrace. Every day, within every
program, we must learn and then take steps to improve on our commitment to Northern New Mexico.
We learned and embraced many lessons from the original Food Mobile:
• Choice-based programming is needed in communities beyond Santa Fe County, requiring vehicles built for longer travel.
• Dignity is added to the experience when clients can board the vehicle and shop for themselves, if they want.
• Collecting some basic client contact information is essential for communicating schedule changes.
• Integrating Resource Navigation with the Food Mobile strengthens long-term impact.
• Sites serving hundreds of households require largercapacity vehicles.
two new, custom-built Food Mobile trailers have arrived at our Siler Road Warehouse.
Each new, 32-foot trailer reflects lessons we have learned. Pulled by dually trucks, Food Mobiles will be able to travel outside Santa Fe County. Expanded fresh food storage and walk-on access allow clients to select from a wider variety of items. WiFi capability supports real-time client services and relevant data collection. Of course, with new vehicles comes new employee operating procedures needed for loading food, inventory, site schedules, signage, and client accessibility.
We will continue to win, learn, and collaborate this fall as we pilot the trailers. We know we will forever remain dedicated to keeping Sherry’s vision of accessible, nutritious food in motion for Northern New Mexico.
Every gift during Hunger Action Month helps provide nutritious food for programs like the Food Mobile. Thanks to a generous match, your donation will be doubled up to $100,000!
The new trailers are pulled by a dually truck, making distribution locations easier to navigate.
A Look Back on the Bus that
Started it All
Hundreds of thousands of pounds of food have passed through the original Food Mobile bus and into the hands of clients across Santa Fe. Thank you to the original vehicle for her years of service, and to the volunteers who helped bring this program to life in its very first chapter.
The Food Mobile program's first distribution coincided with the COVID-19 pandemic.
Volunteer Joanie Puma Bennet organizes menus at a distribution.
TAKE ACTION:
Share our New Commercials with your Friends and Family!
A single can’s journey from donation to distribution shows how one small act of generosity can help fill a family’s table.
Your support brings comfort, dignity, and nourishment to New Mexicans when it matters most.
Docufilms, the production company behind The Food Depot’s Emmy Award-winning film “Movement”, has returned with more to share about your favorite food bank!
In June 2025, many of the same talented crew members from “Movement” joined volunteers and actors to film four commercials, each capturing a different side of hunger-relief work during this critical time.
We are deeply grateful to Michael Campbell, Paul McKittrick, Zac Cornfield, and the entire Docufilms team for their outstanding support of The Food Depot.
Please visit thefooddepot. org/ham to view the spots and then share with your family and friends!
A client picks up groceries from the Food Mobile at her apartment complex in Santa Fe.
Every Action, an Impact Community in Motion
Count on The Food Depot
We all Deserve a Healthy Meal
When life feels uncertain, The Food Depot is a steady hand ensuring families can count on a healthy meal.
Highlight the mission and partnerships that make our movement possible.
Taking Action: Ensuring Food Does Not Go to Waste
Early each morning, The Food Depot’s drivers journey across Santa Fe to collect food donations from dozens of grocery stores. When the trucks return to the warehouse, food is weighed, then moved from the refrigerator into the volunteer “Fresh Room.” Here, trained volunteers carefully inspect each bag of oranges, container of strawberries, or bunch of bananas. They decide if each item is safe to eat and ensure items will stay fresh long enough to be distributed to clients after a few days. Fresh food that does not pass The Food Depot’s quality standards is not tossed into the trash can. Instead, items are put into large, plastic blue drums the staff affectionately call “pig barrels.”
alone consume the contents of four, 30-gallon barrels each day. “We still do buy a lot of feed, but the barrels help a lot,” Mr. Anaya explains. “This food doesn’t go to waste. The animals eat it, and they really love it.”
The partnership between The Food Depot and the Anaya family is truly mutually beneficial.
Pig barrels have been part of The Food Depot’s commitment to reducing waste for decades. Today, they continue that purpose through a partnership with a local hobby rancher: Mr. Anaya.
For the last 10 years, Jimmy Anaya, a passionate hobby rancher, has made biweekly trips from his land in Ribera, NM, to The Food Depot to pick up pig barrels. He is often accompanied by his young grandsons who are learning the family trade.
During each visit, the Anayas load up their trailer with barrels of produce that will help feed their animals. Currently, the family land is home to 20 hogs, 30 sheep and goats, chickens, and rabbits. The hogs
Ranching runs deep in Mr. Anaya’s history. The grandson of a sheep herder, he is now the only one left in his family still raising animals. “My grandfather taught me to love this work, and now my grandkids love it. I hope they too want to ranch one day. They help me a lot with the animals, and my grandsons are part of 4-H in San Miguel County.”
To support his family, Mr. Anaya takes his meat to a processor in Colorado and holds a USDA license to sell product at farmers’ markets. Under the label Sunshine Meat Company, he currently offers lamb chops, pork roast, pork sausage, leg of lamb, lamb chops, and bacon.
Food that cannot be distributed is kept out of the landfill, reducing potentially significant wasteprocessing costs. A local rancher gains valuable feed, and he returns the cleaned barrels to the warehouse for reuse.
“I brag about The Food Depot all the time and tell people to support you all,” Mr. Anaya says proudly. “You all are great people.”
This is part of a continued series to explore the movement of food in and out of The Food Depot warehouse.
Volunteer Campbell Martin inspects a donated sack of potatoes in the Fresh Room.
Mr. Anaya and his grandchildren are passionate about ranching.
Pig Barrel:
Donations from stores that can not be delivered to distribution sites are sorted into "pig barrels".
Mr. Anaya's hogs can eat four full barrels a day!
In November of 2025, local elections will be held to choose leaders of municipal and county governments. These leaders will shape policies that affect access to food, healthcare, wages, housing, and transportation. Local leaders make a big difference in the day-to-day lives of people in your community.
As a voter, you can take action this fall. Vote and make sure others know their vote is important too!
VOTING: An Essential Act for
a Hunger-Free Future
HUNGER ACTION VOTER CHECKLIST
First Course
Check your voter registration. Live in New Mexico?
Vist NMVote.org to check your registration or register to vote!
Second Course
Research your candidate’s stance on poverty, the root cause of hunger. It may be hard to know which policies and programs can help people experiencing hunger in America.
If you want to know if your candidate is anti-hunger, ask some of the following questions:
1. Does the candidate support strengthening local hungerrelief organizations?
2. Does the candidate support specific policies that remove barriers to food security, such as a living wage, affordable housing, public transportation,
Manny Lovato arrives at Christ Lutheran Church to unload a delivery of groceries.
access to childcare and healthy food?
Third Course
Decide how you want to vote.
Voting Early?
Voting by Mail?
Voting on November 4th?
View your sample ballot and polling locations at your local county clerk or board of elections website.
Dessert!
Encourage your friends and family to vote! Help others make a plan to vote by offering a ride to the polls.
smiles over a tote of fresh watermelons at a summer distribution.
The Food Depot Staff Scrapbook
to share about The Food Depot's services.
Amanda Bregel celebrates another year of food bank partnership with Santa Fe's Incite Shakespeare Company.
Ashlynn Montoya
