Gallup Burrito Project marks second birthday with community support
Raj Patel’s Redwood Lodge was honored as the Gallup Burrito Project marked two years of handing out food, water and showers to people living outside in Gallup.
Raj Patel’s Redwood Lodge was singled out at the Gallup Burrito Project’s second-birthday celebration in Gallup for offering something many unhoused residents rarely get: a place to shower. The recognition came during a June 13 gathering that marked two years of the project’s direct outreach to people experiencing homelessness in McKinley County.
The celebration doubled as a workday. Endless Riders members Crockett and Hammer joined Burrito Project volunteers and helped provide food, water and other assistance to people living outside in Gallup. That made the anniversary less a ceremonial milestone than a public showing of the network that now surrounds the effort, with volunteers and local supporters doing the hands-on work that keeps it moving.
Patel, who owns the Redwood Lodge, received a plaque for what the project described as his kindness and dedication to serving the unhoused. His motel has opened rooms so people attending Burrito Project outreach events can use shower facilities. For someone sleeping outdoors or moving from place to place, that kind of access can mean more than comfort. It can mean being able to wash up before an appointment, regroup after a hard night, and take care of basic hygiene that is often out of reach.
The Burrito Project’s second birthday also underscored how much Gallup’s informal safety net depends on private businesses and volunteer labor. Food and water are the most visible pieces, but the work extends to the practical needs that formal systems do not always cover. A shower, a drink of water and a meal handed over by people who show up week after week can make the difference between getting through the day and falling further behind.
The celebration showed a community-built response that has become part of the city’s daily reality over the past two years. In Gallup, the effort now runs on a simple but durable arrangement: volunteers, business owners and community groups filling gaps for neighbors who are living without steady shelter.
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