Aggie Cupboard coming to NMSU Grants Campus

GRANTS, N.M. — The Aggie Cupboard is officially coming to the NMSU Grants Campus on November 12 during a grand opening for the program at 1 p.m. at South House 1500 N. Third Street. “We desire to see a campus free from hunger and the worry of hunger,” said the flyer for the event. “Cibola County ranks as one of the highest counties in New Mexico with the most food insecurity amongst the general population. We believe that the generosity and compassion of the NMSU Grants community will continue to alleviate food insecurity and provide stigma free food access to students.”

The two faculty members that will be running the program are Associate Professor of Mathematics/Mathematics and Program Manager David Bishop, who has been with NMSU Grants since 2014, and Criminal Justice Program Manager Megan Stoneking, who has been with NMSU Grants since 2011. According to Bishop, bringing a program like the Aggie Cupboard to the NMSU Grants Campus has been in the works for a while. The idea was brought up three or four years ago, but it wasn’t until the first round of federally disbursed stimulus checks were sent out that the program started to become a reality for NMSU Grants.

According to Bishop, his wife, Susanne Bishop, was the one who essentially suggested that they put their stimulus check money to good use. With that donation and other faculty and organizational donations, NMSU Grants was able to adopt the program, which has already been established in NMSU Main Campus in Las Cruces for some years.

Bishop and Stoneking are excited to bring the program to Grants, especially in light of the statistics regarding food insecurity in New Mexico and Cibola County. According to health data from New Mexico’s Indicator-Based Information System, “The USDA estimates that as of 2017, 326,000 people, including over 118,000 children, in New Mexico are good insecure. That means 1 in 6 individuals (15.5 percent) and 1 in 4 children (24 percent) live in homes without consistent access to adequate food. McKinley, Luna, and Cibola Counties had the highest percentages of food insecurity for all persons and for children.” Bishop and Stoneking are hopeful that this program will help to alleviate these concerns for students, faculty, and Adult Education individuals.

Bishop and Stoneking said the cupboard won’t just include food though. They are seeking to include personal items as well, such as diapers, toothbrushes, deodorants, other hygienic items, socks, blankets, and possibly coats. Food will of course include nonperishables and container items. There are four different ways that community members can support this program:

The first way is to donate food, baby supplies, and/or personal hygiene products in the main office at NMSU Grants. “Canned goods, dry goods (rice, beans, pasta, etc.), shampoo, soap, toothpaste, etc. are preferred. We do have a refrigerator and freezer so we can accept perishable goods that can be frozen,” said a virtual guide provided by NMSU Grants.

The second way is to give online at www.giving.nmsu.edu. “Make a gift of any size using Visa, MasterCard, American Express, or Discover cards. For the Fund, select “Other (write in)” and enter NMSU Aggie Cupboard-Grants Program. You can honor or remember someone with your gift.”

The third way is to mail a check. “Make checks payable to “NMSU Foundation”. Write Aggie Cupboard NMSU Grants Campus in the memo line. Mail the check to:

NMSU Foundation, Inc.

Attn. Gift Processing

PO Box 3590

Las Cruces, NM 88003- 3590

The fourth way is to do set up an electronic funds transfer. “EFTs, or monthly bank drafts, are a convenient way to establish regular support for NMSU. You can authorize your bank to transfer your gift to the NMSU Foundation automatically, saving you time and paperwork. Please complete the Direct Gift Authorization Form available at support.nmsu.edu/give and mail to:

NMSU Foundation, Inc.

PO Box 3590

Las Cruces, NM 88003- 3590

Questions regarding these processes can be directed towards David Bishop or Megan Stoneking at 505-287-6678, or towards Adrian Bautista at 575-646-2552 or abautista@nmsufoundation.org.

Once the NMSU Grants Aggie Cupboard is officially up and running, Bishop and Stoneking hope to have the cupboard open on Fridays to get students through the weekends. As for their hope for this program and what it will bring to NMSU Grants, Stoneking said, “We understand that a lot of students can depend on this to get them through the semesters. A lot of them have food insecurities that can prevent them from being successful within the semesters and within life. They can sometimes choose between having a healthy meal or paying bills and they have to make hard decisions. So, we hope this will alleviate stress from them and no student should go hungry.” Bishop added, “And it will allow them to succeed better with their academics.” The program also has the opportunity to possibly partner with the NMSU Grants container farm project in the future so that healthy foods grown in the farm in a box could contribute to the cupboard.

Bishop and Stoneking thanked the program’s five donors, who collectively donated about $2,800 to the foundation. The program managers also invited anyone from the community to attend the grand opening for the Aggie Cupboard on Friday, November 12 at 1 p.m. at NMSU Grants Campus’s South House on 1500 N. Third Street. Donations are also welcome and appreciated at that time.