Los Alamos Lab food drive delivers 450,000 meals to region

Los Alamos National Laboratory’s spring food drive translated $111,457 and 5,000 pounds of donated food into 450,000 meals for people facing food insecurity across nine Northern New Mexico counties, including Los Alamos County. The total marked a jump of more than 110,000 meals from last year and showed how a workplace campaign in Los Alamos reached far beyond the lab’s gates.

The donations will support residents in Colfax, Harding, Los Alamos, Mora, Rio Arriba, San Miguel, Santa Fe, Taos and Union counties. That footprint matters in a region where food insecurity remains a persistent problem. Feeding America’s Map the Meal Gap reported New Mexico’s food insecurity rate at 16.6% in 2023, and its county-level data includes Los Alamos County in the regional hunger map.

Tina Moore, the laboratory’s drive coordinator, summed up the effort simply: “Every dollar or item donated helps put food on someone's table.” The campaign depended on more than money alone. LANL said 80 employees volunteered in person, while more than 60 employees served as champions who organized collection points and encouraged donations at lab sites in Los Alamos and Santa Fe.

The lab’s donations also plugged into a wider hunger-relief network already at work across Northern New Mexico. Volunteers supported organizations including The Food Depot, Kitchen Angels and San Martin de Porres Soup Kitchen. The Food Depot says it provides no-cost healthy food across nine counties and works with more than 85 partner agencies through more than 150 food distribution sites, including mobile food pantries, school-based pantries and drive-through distributions. In 2025, its programs and partner agencies distributed 10 million pounds of food.

This year’s total also outpaced prior LANL spring drives. In 2025, employees gave $83,015 and 6,622 pounds of food for 337,518 meals. In 2024, the campaign brought in $70,738, 7,509 pounds of food and 289,000 meals. The steady rise matters in Los Alamos County, where the laboratory is not only the largest employer but also a major civic force shaping how aid reaches nearby communities when hunger pressures intensify.