A New Truck for East Central Ministries

A donation from the Dominican Ecclesial Institute (via Lumen Award honoree Carlos Navarro) helped defray the cost of a new vehicle for East Central Ministries

The Donor
"The Board of Directors of the D+E+I, the Dominican Ecclesial Institute, determined to set aside 5% of the net proceeds of its 2017 Annual Lumen Awards event (Nutriendo el Cuerpo y Alma) to be awarded to charities designated by its two major awardees. Please find a check payable to East Central Ministries for the Food Donation Collection Truck, as a token of gratitude toward your good New Mexico works in the area of hunger, poverty and immigration..."  
 
The Recipient
"Our van at East Central Ministries is used daily to retrieve donated food, as well as at other times to pick up donated goods to sell at our thrift store or deliver shipments of plants and ollas to our wholesale partners around the city.  It is a vital component of our food cooperative, without which the program couldn't function. We replaced our old van, which was constantly breaking down, with a secondhand box truck.  This truck not only increases our cargo capacity for food pickups, but also allows us to go about this work more efficiently and safely"