Albuquerque’s Roadrunner Food Bank put its new Mobile Food Pantry into quick action during the recent floods in Ruidoso.
 
On July 30, Roadrunner sent a truck containing 36,000 pounds of food and supplies to two churches: the Angus Nazarene Church in Capitan and Christian Services of Lincoln County, a Roadrunner spokeswoman told the New Mexico Independent.
 
"We coordinated with state emergency responders to make sure they needed the food and also asked them to let us know when they would need it," Sonya Warwick said. "They called on us on Wednesday and asked us to send it to the two churches."
 
Normally, the Mobile Food Pantry would visit this area on a Tuesday, so this Wednesday delivery was in addition to the food bank’s regular delivery, she continued.
 
"When we were alerted to the flooding several days ago, we began pulling inventory in our warehouse immediately," Executive Director Melody Wattenbarger added in a statement. "That way, we could act quickly when responders called on us for support. That call came … and within a few hours the truck was loaded and ready to drive to Capitan."
 
On Tuesday, Gov. Bill Richardson added Otero County to his previous disaster declaration for Lincoln County, both of which were affected by flooding created by remnants of Hurricane Dolly. In a press release, the governor said:
 “The impact of the flooding extends well beyond Ruidoso and there is a true need for assistance. I want the people of southern New Mexico to know that as they continue their cleanup following this disaster, we will make every resource available to them.”
 
In August 2006, the food bank provided emergency food to 450 families affected by flooding in Hatch, Alamogordo, Socorro and Laguna, the agency added.