(Deming) -- For the second year in a row, New Mexico again ranks #1 in the nation for childhood hunger. Melody Wattenbarger, president and CEO of Roadrunner Food Bank said, Luna County once again ranked as the hungriest county in New Mexico for both children and the overall population.
39.7% of Luna County Children are going hungry with 22.9% of the overall population going hungry.
Last week, the Luna County Commissioners signed a resolution declaring the week as New Mexico Hunger Week to raise awareness of the high hunger rate in New Mexico. District 3 Commissioner Javier Diaz told the chamber that “With the Churches we have in this community… there isn’t any reason for people to go hungry… if they go hungry it’s by choice… and there are programs to sustain people for a period of time”.
Diaz and the two other Commissioners voted in favor of the resolution which passed by unanimous vote.
Wattenbarger “This should be a wakeup call for everyone in our state. Until we make sure that our children aren’t going to school hungry, we won’t be able to solve any of the other problems we have. It’s a statewide problem. It needs a statewide response.”
In Luna County, The NM Roadrunner Food Bank helps with monthly commodity food Distribution.