Casa de Peregrinos pantry nearing completion in Sunland Park
Casa de Peregrinos says its long-planned Sunland Park food pantry is nearing completion and could open by early November, with local hiring already underway.
The long-planned food pantry could open by early November, with the organization preparing operations and looking to hire locally
Damien Willis, Organ Mountain News
SUNLAND PARK - A food pantry Casa de Peregrinos has envisioned for about a decade is nearing completion in Sunland Park, with construction expected to wrap up by late October or early November.
Executive Director Lorenzo Alba told the Sunland Park City Council on Tuesday, Aug. 18, that the organization is already preparing to operate the pantry and hire local workers.
“It’s taken us a long time to get here, but we are almost near completion,” Alba said.
Alba said the organization hopes to hold a grand opening once construction is finished.
Casa de Peregrinos, a Doña Ana County nonprofit that provides emergency food assistance, has spent years working toward a permanent location in Sunland Park. City officials said food pantry services in the community previously moved between locations without a dedicated facility.
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The organization is now developing an operational plan for the new pantry, Alba said. Hours of operation have been coordinated and hiring is underway for a coordinator.
Alba said the organization has received a large number of applications and expects to announce additional part-time hires in the coming weeks.
The goal, he said, is to fill the positions with people from Sunland Park.
“We want to hire locals because they know and understand the culture here,” Alba said. “They know and understand the community and they know and understand the people here.”
Alba said Casa de Peregrinos had committed to local hiring when the project was approved, describing the pantry as an opportunity to provide both food assistance and some economic benefit to the community.
“This isn’t a Casa de Peregrinos project,” Alba told the council. “This is a community project.”
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Support Organ Mountain NewsMayor Pro Tem Raul T. Telles Jr. said food assistance remains important for families struggling to put meals on the table.
“There’s a lot of communities that are still in need of food,” Telles said.
Mayor Javier Perea said Sunland Park’s previous food pantry operations had lacked a permanent home and moved among different locations, including City Hall.
“We didn’t have the proper buildings to really cater to the people who need the service,” Perea said.
The new facility, he said, puts the city closer to providing those services directly in the community.
Alba said Casa de Peregrinos intends to keep the commitment it made to Sunland Park as the project moves toward opening.
Damien Willis is founder and editor of Organ Mountain News. If you have a personal story to share or a lead we should follow up on, reach out at OrganMountainNews@gmail.com or connect with him on X at @damienwillis.
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