Delta Dental of New Mexico

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5/12/2015

Delta Dental of New Mexico Nears End of Second Year Feeding Elementary School Students

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M., May 12, 2015 — Delta Dental of New Mexico (DDNM) is celebrating the end of its second school year providing weekly bags of non-perishable snacks to Albuquerque elementary school students in need. DDNM fully funds the effort as part of Blessings in a Backpack, a nonprofit program that helps feed schoolchildren who are on federal free-and-reduced-price meal programs. The goal is to give students additional nutrition over the weekend, when free or reduced-priced meals are not available. This is the second 38-week school year during which DDNM has partnered with Blessings in a Backpack. DDNM will bag and distribute snacks for the remaining two weeks of the school year.

“The health and well-being of children is a primary focus at Delta Dental,” said Sara Limón, chief operating officer of DDNM. “We are honored to engage our employees, every week, in assembling food for hungry children with hopes that these students will arrive at school engaged and ready to learn. The entire company contributes to supporting children and education in the community.”

DDNM employees take time out of their workday each week to bag the food and deliver it to local elementary schools. Currently, DDNM serves three schools in Albuquerque, supplying food for roughly 250 elementary students per week. Over the last two school years, DDNM funded and donated approximately 19,000 bags of snacks to schoolchildren. Snacks include items such as granola bars, juice, oatmeal, and soup.

“It really helps our students have good, healthy, nourishing snacks for the weekend,” said Patricia Rogers, principal of Sombra del Monte Elementary, one of the schools to which DDNM delivers food. “Our students look forward to it every Friday. They’re excited, and there’s no embarrassment. They support each other from kindergarten to 5th grade.”

DDNM looks forward to contributing again to Blessings in a Backpack with the new school year starting in August.

About Delta Dental of New Mexico
Delta Dental of New Mexico is a nonprofit dental benefits provider that aims to advance oral health for New Mexicans through dental benefits plans and community giving. The company has served New Mexicans for more than forty years and covers nearly 390,000 New Mexicans. DDNM is proud to give to New Mexico service organizations including Albuquerque Health Care for the Homeless, school-based dental clinics via UNM’s Division of Dental Hygiene, Blessings in a Backpack, Leadership New Mexico, the New Mexico Dental Foundation, New Mexico Mission of Mercy, Special Olympics of New Mexico, and UNM United Way. DDNM is headquartered in Albuquerque, New Mexico.