Sandia National Laboratories announced it has organized its annual event called "Take a Turkey to Work Day," where employees were encouraged to bring frozen turkeys to be donated. The initiative involved drop-off locations at various sites within Sandia, according to a press release by Sandia National Laboratories.
This year's contributions from "Take a Turkey to Work Day" will benefit local organizations, including Roadrunner Food Bank, the Rio Grande Food Project, and the East Mountain and St. Felix pantries. Additionally, members of the public can participate by dropping off frozen turkeys at specified Sandia Laboratory Federal Credit Union locations in Albuquerque, Edgewood, Los Lunas, and Rio Rancho between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m., said Sandia National Laboratories.
“I love being a part of this annual Sandia tradition and seeing how happy our employees are giving back to the community,” said Katrina Wagner, community relations specialist at Sandia Labs. “Meat is expensive these days and food pantries really need donations of protein, so this is a great way to help feed families that might not otherwise be able to buy a turkey for the holidays.”
The Map the Meal Gap 2023 study reveals that New Mexico has higher hunger rates than the national average. With state hunger rate of 13.5 percent compared to national rate of 10.4 percent in 2021. The study further discloses that New Mexico ranks seventh in overall hunger rates and child hunger in New Mexico is notably higher at 19.2 percent compared to national rate of 12.8 percent according to Feeding America's data on Roadrunner Food Bank's Map the Meal Gap website.
