Las Crucens donate 2,500 pounds of beef to local food bank

New Mexico Hay & Livestock Company, LLC, owned by Jeff and Roberta Flores of Las Cruces, has donated 2,500 pounds of ground beef to Casa de Peregrinos (CdP) emergency food program, CdP Executive Director Lorenzo Alba has announced.

Alba said Jeff Flores had been in contact with him about CdP’s needs, and one of them was lack of protein items, including beef.

The Flores family donation is critical because, since the COVID-19 public-health crisis began, the amount of food CdP has gotten through its food-rescue program has dropped significantly, Alba said. 

Food rescue is a program through whiche agencies like CdP pick up food from grocery stores, restaurants and regional farmers, he said.

“Just in the month of March, our poundage dropped by nearly 60 percent” from a year ago, Alba said. “That is a lot of food that would normally go to families that same day we pick it up.”

New Mexico Hay & Livestock Company is located in Las Cruces and specializes in raising corriente cattle, Jeff Flores said.  The ranching side of the operation is made up of several components, including stock contracting cattle for team roping events, a cow/calf operation and a feedlot used for backgrounding yearlings prior to marketing.

Beyond ranching, Jeff and Roberta Flores are owners of MECA Therapies, LLC.  MECA Therapies specializes in providing early intervention, pediatric outpatient, home visiting and ABA services to families and their children in Doña Ana, Chaves, Lea, Quay, Curry and Roosevelt counties.  

“Jeff and Roberta shared that it was always their intent to focus on rural farming and ranching communities throughout New Mexico,” Alba said. “Twenty years later, their vision continues, and they are grateful to have staff that impact families in such a positive way.” 

“The COVID-19 health and financial crisis has impacted every New Mexican and every business segment in our state,” Jeff Flores said. “It would be easy to buckle down and just take care of yourself. But our faith, family values and our agriculture way of life don’t allow us to think that way. It is exactly during times like this that we must think beyond ourselves.”

Though their efforts, Jeff and Roberta Flores are encouraging others to assist CdP and similar organizations across the region and state, Alba said. 

CdP’s doors have remained open during the COVID-19 crisis, and the program will continue to serve the communities in Doña Ana County, Alba said. 

“We understand these are trying times for our communities, state and country,” he said. “We will continue to do our best to serve the community at full capacity with an adjusted operational system.”

CdP’s extended hours are 9-11:30 a.m. and 1-5 p.m. on Mondays and Fridays and 9-11 a.m. and 1-3 p.m. on Wednesdays. CdP is located at 999 W. Amador Ave., inside the Mesilla Valley Community of Hope compoud.

For information and to donate to CdP, call 575-654-4170 or email lo.alba.jr@gmail.com. Visit www.casadeperegrinos.org. 

For more information about New Mexico Hay & Livestock Company, call 575-642-6755 or email jeff@nmhay.us. Visit http://nmhay.us/.