‘Jars of Love’ campaign addresses food insecurity in Doña Ana County with peanut butter
LAS CRUCES, New Mexico (KVIA) - For the fourth year, Mountainview Regional Medical Center and Casa de Peregrinos have partnered to collect jars of peanut butter to give families in Doña Ana County.
It's called 'Jars of Love', a month-long food drive every March to collect any peanut butter Las Cruces residents can spare.
MountainView CEO Patrick Shannon said peanut butter was chosen because of it's long shelf life and it's mass appeal.
"People love it, kids love it, and it's stable," Shannon said. "It's something that can stay on the shelves and be used for a period of time. This is a great way to give back to those that are in need."
Executive Director of Casa de Peregrinos, Lorenzo Alba Jr, had a similar sentiment.
"Peanut butter is just another wonderful source of protein," Alba said. "There's a lot of kids who aren't into the meat, the chicken, the fish we all need for nutrition. This is a source of protein they can all go to and they love."
Shannon said last year, they collected over 4,200 jars and this year's goal is 5,000.
He also said the reason 'Jars of Love' started was to give back to a community that needed help.
"The organizations thought we need a way to give back," Shannon said. "We know there's such a need in the community, there's a lot of people that are not able to make ends meet and need some assistance with food."
Alba said there are other local partners involved, not just Mountain View.
"I just saw that Doña Ana Title company is involved this year, we've had Nusenda participate in the past," he said. "A lot of the grocery stores are involved, you've got realtors involved, local businesses involved, it's just a wonderful, wonderful endeavor."
He explained the need for it and the food insecurity in Doña Ana County, which he says leads to Casa de Peregrinos serving over 35,000 families a year, even growing to 40,000 in recent years.
"One in six individuals is going through food insecurity in our community, about 40% of those are children and that's what this drive is all about," Alba said. "This is something they're going to love and they're gonna enjoy and make part of their nutrition program at home. That is what we're trying to do, reach more people."
Alba said he wants Casa de Peregrinos to be people's safety net when they need help and reach as many people as he can.
But he also said the people they don't reach are who he thinks about.
"The difficult part is going home, leaving here," Alba said. "We always think about did we miss somebody? Is there somebody who went home without food, is there somebody at home without food? Those are the things that we think about to make it difficult for our work."
