PUEBLO, Colo. — Volunteers with the interfaith nonprofit Pueblo Cooperative Care smile as they unload 26 pallets of food from a semi-truck on Dec. 3. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints donated food to the organization’s food distribution program. The pallet contained 1,426 cases of non-perishable staples.
Pueblo Colorado Stake President Ralph M. Downey and Bruce Linford, the church’s community and self-reliance services manager, coordinated the donation in response to growing needs in Pueblo County.
Pueblo Cooperative Care is the largest nonprofit emergency assistance program in Southern Colorado. The organization is supported by more than 60 churches, businesses, businesses, foundations, and other organizations from multiple denominations. The organization serves 4,000 households and 5,500 individuals each month. Recipients pick up a box of food once a month from the organization’s distribution center, which provides drive-thru or walk-up service.
“Receiving food donations from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints represents a partnership built on compassion, shared values, and a genuine concern for the well-being of our neighbors,” said Stephanie Walker, executive director of Pueblo Cooperative Care. “For our organization, this support is a reaffirmation that we are not working alone and that we have caring partners who are standing alongside us to meet urgent needs.”
Items donated by the church include flour, rice, pasta, beans, peanut butter, powdered milk, spaghetti sauce, rolled oats and potato flakes.
“This food allows us to provide more consistent, higher-quality nutritional options to more families,” said Walker.
Walker added that the donations “help fill critical gaps when demand is high, resources are limited, or certain essentials are difficult to procure. By strengthening food supplies, these donations reduce food insecurity, support healthier households, and allow families to allocate limited income to other essential needs, such as housing, transportation, and health care.”
Pueblo Stake Executive Director Bruce Dowell oversaw the delivery. In the spirit of the holiday season, the truck arrived amidst a heavy snowstorm that blanketed the area with fresh snow. Volunteers quickly unloaded the items onto shelves at the distribution center.
“I love volunteering here,” said Denton Jorgensen, a Pueblo Cooperative Care volunteer, as he labeled boxes for storage.
Jorgensen started volunteering at Pueblo Cooperative Care this summer, but after overgrowing cucumbers in her garden, she started looking for organizations in need of food donations. When he delivered the cucumbers, he saw the need to help and began volunteering full time.
The morning she delivered the donations, Jorgensen ministered to a young couple with their children at home. He said the couple walked to a distribution center in the freezing cold to pick up boxes of food to feed their children.
Jorgensen said it was an “eye-opener” to Pueblo County’s food needs. “It’s heartbreaking.”
Walker added, “These donations not only provide necessities, but also bring a sense of hope, dignity and encouragement to those we serve.”
— Jenny Meade is communications director for the Pueblo Colorado Stake.
