Food for Love raises $862,577 for NM food banks

Adrian Gomez, Albuquerque Journal, N.M.
·2 min read

Mar. 7—The hard work has paid off for Food for Love.

The virtual musical event on Feb. 13 had more than 50 performers on its lineup. The benefit show was able to raise $862,577 from donors across the world.

"We created Food for Love to highlight New Mexico's hunger crisis. While we're extremely proud of the money raised, we know that the crisis continues. We hope that the concert has inspired people to get more involved to work together to help solve our state's hunger crisis once and for all," organizers said.

All the money is going to the New Mexico Association of Food Banks who, through their partner food banks, will be able to provide 3,450,300 nutritious meals for New Mexicans who are having trouble putting food on their tables.

The food banks include Roadrunner Food Bank in Albuquerque and Las Cruces, The Food Depot in Santa Fe, the Community Pantry in Gallup, the Echo Food Bank in Farmington and the Food Bank of Eastern New Mexico in Clovis.

"New Mexico food banks are grateful for the generous help provided by people from our home state, those from other parts of the U.S, and people from as far away as Europe and Australia," said Sherry Hooper, chairperson of the New Mexico Association of Food Banks. "Not only did the Food for Love benefit concert raise enough funds to provide more than 3.4 million meals for New Mexicans in need, it called attention to the severity of hunger in New Mexico. We thank the Planning Committee for their tremendous work on this stellar event!"

Organizers said thousands have donated with donations ranging from $1 to a $100,000 anonymous donation.

The Food for Love concert featured dozens of the country's top musicians, singers and songwriters including Lyle Lovett, David Byrne, Steve Earle, Nathaniel Rateliff as well as many New Mexico-based acts.

It also included special appearances by Ali MacGraw, George RR Martin, N. Scott Momaday, Hampton Sides, Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham, former Governor Bill Richardson, former Senator Tom Udall and Jo Harvey Allen.

"We can't be more grateful for the outpouring of love we are seeing," said the Food for Love organizers, which includes Terry Allen, Jo Harvey Allen, Bill Banowsky, Susan Banowsky and Stephen Feinberg. "We want to thank the participating artists and special guests for lending their time and talents, our generous sponsors and the thousands of people who opened up their hearts and wallets to help New Mexicans in need."