Bare chests and silk boxers are unlikely to make an appearance at this boxing match, as local corporate teams compete Thursday in Roadrunner Food Bank’s annual Boxing Olympics.

Chances are, however, the gloves will be on — to prevent chafing.

 

This is boxing of a different sort — a hands-on competition to see who’s the fastest at filling food boxes for low-income seniors. The competition lasts 10 minutes. The results help needy seniors all year.

 

The event starts at 9 a.m. Thursday at the Roadrunner Food Bank in Albuquerque. More than 1,000 food boxes will be filled by corporate teams, each of which has sponsored a senior for the year, Roadrunner reports in a press release. The food boxes will be filled for the Seniors Helpings Program, which serves medically frail, low-income seniors.

 

Roadrunner says individuals or interested companies can still form teams through noon Wednesday, June 4, and teams of six to eight people are recommended. The registration fee of $212 for a team provides a box to a needy senior every month for one year.

 

If boxing isn’t your thing, there’s another way you can help "Stick a Fork in Hunger" this week. On Thursday, residents and visitors to Albuquerque, Clovis, Taos and Chimayo can "Dine Out - Help Out to End Hunger" by patronizing nine cafes and restaurants that have promised to donate a percentage of their proceeds from lunch and dinner purchased that day. Here’s a list of participating restaurants.

 

According to Roadrunner, 350,000 New Mexicans — or one in six — are at risk of going hungry every day. That’s equivalent to the population of Santa Fe, Las Cruces, Rio Rancho, Farmington and Gallup combined. View one of Roadrunner’s videos, "Faces of Hunger," to recognize the food insecurity of New Mexicans all around us.

 

Volunteers will also be needed throughout next week to help fill the senior boxes, Roadrunner says. To volunteer or register a boxing team, contact Stephanie Silver at (505) 349-8678 or email her at stephanie@rrfb.org.