Lew Wallace Converts Gym into Grocery Store

The downtown elementary school is partnering with Storehouse NM to provide food including fresh fruits and vegetables for more than 200 APS families on a monthly basis.

The gym at Lew Wallace Elementary School is being converted into a free grocery store on the third Thursday of the month to help Albuquerque Public Schools families in need.

The school is partnering with Storehouse NM to provide groceries including fresh fruits and vegetables for more than 200 families in the downtown area.

The program is being funded in part by donations from the Ellen DeGeneres Show which featured one of Lew Wallace’s kindergarten teachers a couple of years ago. Sonya Romero gained national attention for digging into her own pocket to provide food, clothes and supplies for her students. After Romero appeared on the Ellen DeGeneres Show, the nationally syndicated talk show donated $20,000 to the school to help Albuquerque kids.

Thousands more came from individual donations generated by the national publicity.

Families from Lew Wallace as well as nearby Eugene Field and Longfellow elementary schools receive invitations to go shopping for groceries at the school.

“Our goal is to eliminate childhood hunger downtown for APS students,” said Lew Wallace Principal Anne Marie Strangio, adding that they hope to find donors to expand the program.

“We can sustain this for two years, but we’re looking to make this a permanent service for the downtown community,” she said.