The Storehouse New Mexico — Restaurant in Albuquerque

I haven't been to a food pantry in a long time, but I just moved to Albuquerque in March and have been going through the really complicated process of having my therapeutic massage license transferd here, and it pretty much drained all my funds. (It's finally done though, and I start new job tomorrow!) My adult son is here with me, and will be a student next month. He's not working yet. Anyhoo, we need to eat between now and my 1st paycheck, so I was trying to figure things out. A friend told me about the storehouse, and I was a bit apprehensive. Most food banks I've been to just give you a small pre packed box of food with things like ramen noodles, rice and a few cans of veggies. But the storehouse actually lets you pick a really huge selection of food out yourself from the pantry! A lot of really healthy stuff to boot! And so you don't end up getting home with a bunch of stuff you may never get hungry enough to eat. My only complaint is that when they would offer things like bread and noodles and such, and I would explain that I have celiac disease and can't eat that stuff, the attendants seemed either mystified or even exasperated. When I was carefully looking through the boxes of Mac and cheese...because I did see some products from companies such as Amies, which do make some gluten free products, the guy who was attending that station seemed to be getting really impatient with me. I finally just picked a box, figuring my son can eat it ( we registered separately as opposed to as a family because of my dietary restrictions. I don't want him to have to adhere to my diet). However, I ultimately did find lots of healthy items that will keep me fed until I have paychecks rolling in, so no worries. This is an awesome place if you need a helping hand. When I can afford to I will donate to them...money, and maybe some gluten free items too! 😃. I'm far from the only poor person with...

All of the volunteers here are amazing! I've been here twice so far and everyone I've met here are just so sweet and helpful, they are actually GENUINELY GOOD PEOPLE! Other places I've been to where someone is getting some form of assistance, unfortunately, are oftentimes treated as a burden or inconvenience. At a time when things are hard or people are struggling, just trying to overcome a hardship or sometimes just make it through the day, for a lot of people, it is hard enough to ask for help. So being treated poorly or outright dismissed is hurtful and demoralizing. And unfortunately at a lot of the places you go to receive help from they treat you as if you're beneath them. BUT NOT HERE. I never felt like that here. EVERYONE that I've interacted with here has tried to help each person in need to the best of their ability and has tried to maximize the amount of help each individual could receive. They walk you through everything step by step & try to personalize your assistance (food allergies, help picking things for babies, etc) One of the kids (teenager & volunteer) even helped me find extra pumpernickel bread because it's my favorite AND remembered me on my 2nd visit. The place is clean, the food is stored properly, nothing is expired and it's all very organized. I wish I could give it more...

Pre-covid19, this blessing of a foodbank only took about 1 hour of your valuable time and in exchange for that sacrifice you walked a conga-style lane where you shifted through partially damaged boxes of snacks, soups, cereal. And sometimes got food that HAD to be eaten that day or it spoiled. Now on Wednesday's, Friday, and Saturday between 9am-12pm, you take your designated spot in line, hand your ID to very handsome and professional security officers and they take several ID'S at a time. The volunteer clerks inside the building check your info and hand the ids and plastic #s back to officer who deals them back to u where you then walk about 30 feet to the back door of a mobile food (palace truck) truck and they roll a grocery cart filled to the top with unopened dairy boxes of milk, cheese, sour cream, eggs. You also get potatoes, and meat. Way better take home food carts than before! And it takes less than...