Food Bank of Eastern New Mexico gets grant

The Food Bank of Eastern New Mexico is the recipient of one of 36 grants Blue Cross and Blue Shield of New Mexico (BCBSNM)awarded recently.

BCBSNM awarded more than $750,000 to the statewide nonprofits through its Blue Impact grant program.

“Social and economic factors have a profound impact on achieving and maintaining good health,” Janice Torrez said. Torrez is BCBSNM president.

“We’re working with organizations across the state to provide New Mexicans with greater access to the essential resources and support they need to live healthier lives,” Torrez added.

The Blue Impact grant program evaluates applications from 501(c)(3) organizations every year based on impact, feasibility, capacity, collaboration and sustainability. The grants were awarded for programs taking place from July 1, 2023, through June 30, 2024.

The grant to the Food Bank of Eastern New Mexico, based in Clovis, provides nutritious food to alleviate the consequences of food insecurity for people living in eastern New Mexico.

Food bank Executive Director Dianna Sprague said the grant was for $11,000 to be used in the food bank’s Protein for People program.

“We will be using the funding to purchase eggs for distribution in our food programs,” Sprague said.

Sprague added, “Eggs are such a versatile usually inexpensive great source of protein.”

She went on to describe eggs as a great source of food that helps us stretch food budgets.

“In June our network served more than 4,000 families and we are preparing for that high trend to continue,” Sprague said.