Neighbors use holiday light displays to support Storehouse NM

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — We’re seeing a lot of homes go all out with decorations and lights this holiday season but some of them are bringing more than just smiles to the community.

Storehouse New Mexico food pantry has partnered with some of those homeowners, who are encouraging the hundreds of lights-goers to enjoy the free lights but give something to support the local pantry.

“We decided to take that and do some good with it since we had a lot of publicity on the house,” said homeowner Jared Trujillo. “We wanted to see if we could help out a local food bank and we chose the Storehouse and we’ve been helping them for the last three years.”

The Trujillo house, near Ventura and Wilshire in northeast Albuquerque, is hard to miss, and it’s become a must-see since 2020. That’s why their goal is to fill up the big teal barrel on the curb with non-perishable foods.

“We have donated, so far up to our last donation, 5,400 pounds. So our goal is to do another 2,000 pounds this year and we’re about 600 pounds shy,” Jared said.

Of course, more is always better – so Jared recruited the help of Nate Bywater, who lives in a Ventana Ranch neighborhood where going all out is the norm.

“I said oh let’s do it, and the next day he came over, dropped of the barrel and here we are,” Nate said.

You may also recognize one of Ventana Ranch’s most famous residents, Mr. Christmas.

“It’s all about community, we want to be involved in every aspect of the community that we can and we want to encourage others to do the same,” Nate said.

For a nonprofit food pantry like Storehouse NM, the need for food has gone up this year and especially after the pandemic, so any donation – even as small as a can of food – can make a big impact.

“The needs are especially high during the holiday seasons always. People’s families come in and there are other expenses that they are facing so we’re seeing quite a high demand. We saw it through Thanksgiving and still through December and the holidays,” said Kevin Cochran, the operations manager at Storehouse.

There are a total of three barrels across the city where you can drop off your food donations through the beginning of January. You can also go to Storehouse directly. Learn more about them by clicking here.

The three Albuquerque locations are:

• 8508 Waterford Pl. NE
• 6401 Pepperdine St. NE
• 10431 Venticello Dr. NW