Las Cruces food pantry expects to start feeling impact government showdown this week

Las Cruces food pantry ‘Casa de Peregrinos’ will start feeling the impact of the government shutdown as the week continues, organizers say.

Casa de Peregrinos is an emergency food pantry that serves dozens of pounds of groceries to people in need three times a week. In 2018, Casa de Peregrinos served 3.5 million pounds of food to about 30,000 people.

Lorenzo Alba Jr., the food pantry’s executive director, told ABC-7 the ongoing shutdown it impacts how much food the pantry brings in, which in turn, “impacts the size of the food baskets that are going out to the clients. What might have been 60 pounds of food now turns into 50 pounds. “

Nearly 800,000 federal employees affected by the current shutdown missed their first paychecks last Friday. Alba told ABC-7 he expected the amount of people coming into the food pantry to increase as the week progresses.

Casa de Peregrinos is located at 999 W. Amador. All you need to bring is your ID and a bill to show proof of residence.