The Las Cruces City Council held a work session on September 15, 2026, to discuss two major initiatives: the creation of a Youth Council and a proposed gun violence reduction and crisis intervention program. The meeting also included a proclamation declaring September as Hunger Action Month. Council heard extensive public testimony from community members, youth advocates, and officials, and provided direction to staff on next steps.
Note: The meeting was a work session; no formal votes were taken on the substantive items, but consensus was reached on next steps.
I pledge allegiance to the flight of the United States of America and to the Republic, which is one nation under God. And it is liberty of justice fraud. And I remember doing my hand. And then my dad was a police carrier, right? What is this thing? Proclamation. First item on the agenda is a proclamation for hunger action month, and Councillor Karen will deliver that. Team, please, if you're if you have brought other folks, come on up. Thank you so much for being here. Do you have other folks? Come on down. Thank you. Come join. Hey Marco. Good to see you. The City of Las Cruces proclamation, whereas Feeding America, the largest charity working to end hunger in the United States, has declared the month of September 2026 as Hunger Action Month, an event that brings people across the country together to increase awareness that hunger and poverty are issues of serious concern in the United States. And whereas individuals and families who experience food insecurities must make difficult choices whether to buy healthy food or pay for housing, utilities, transportation, or medical care. And whereas the residents of Las Cruces and the rest of our region suffer from poverty, hunger, and food insecurity at a rate of 22% significantly higher than the rest of the state, 16.4%, and over twice that of the rest of the nation, 10.6%. And whereas over one third of those affected by poverty are children. Food insecurity is closely tied to children's ability to thrive and succeed with inadequate food and childhood linked to significant health problems in adulthood and to impairing academic development, health, and their success as adults. Whereas Casa de Peregrinos, CDP, the food pantry for Las Cruces and Doniena County, has been providing food to the hungry since 20 This says 2026, but what should it say? Since 1979, um, and serves almost one out of every five residents of Doniena County, providing a monthly basket of over 125 pounds of food each month, including good sources of protein, staples, fruits and vegetables in season. And whereas CDP services have been proven to improve lives, allowing clients to purchase other necessities, save money, pay other bills, miss fewer meals, and worry less about food. And whereas CDP provides a return on investment of nearly 17 to 1, as each dollar invested provides 17 dollars of food for a family. And whereas the City of Las Cruces has partnered with Casa de Peregrino's emergency food program since 1985 to provide emergency food resources for low-income families, and is committed to raising awareness of of hunger needs to build a future where no child goes hungry, and to pursuing opportunities within our local food systems to promote food access and food security. Now, therefore, we, the mayor and city council of Las Cruces, New Mexico, do hereby proclaim the month of September as Hunger Action Month in Las Cruces, New Mexico, and urge our citizens during this month to act against hunger by donating, advocating, volunteering, or and raising awareness to hunger in our community. And I'll I'll turn it over to Lorenzo, but I I just want to say that I will be participating in the hunger strike this week on starting on Thursday morning. So uh thank you for giving me that opportunity to participate and raise money and awareness in my own in my own world. So thank you. Thank you. First of all, I want to thank the City of Las Cruz's mayor, city counselors, for your unwavering support of our mission over the years. And uh 38% of those are children, in fact. And that is something that we really want to put at the forefront of our mission, is making sure that these kids have something to eat all the time. I see a lot of our partners out there, LCPS, FY, the LCP uh Las Cruces Powell program, and our biggest partner over there, Natalie Green. Thank you so much for all you do for us. I'd actually like to introduce my staff real quick. I've got Marco Albera, he is my development director. I've got Christian Munoz, who is our brand new social worker. We've never had one at Casa de Perrinos. This is our first time we've ever had one, so we're excited about that. And Melissa Dupre, who is our volunteer coordinator. We'd love to take this picture with this proclamation. But I really like to invite all the counselors that have been supporting us all these years to come take the picture with us because I think it's important that we show this collaboration. And mayor, of course, yourself as well. Thank you again. Oh, I got two more. Oh man. Okay, so next on the agenda, item 2.1, youth council presentation. Mandy Leatherwood. All right, good evening, Mayor and Council.