Gov. Bill Richardson will be in Las Cruces on Monday to announce $30,000 in emergency state funding for a nonprofit that provides child care, education and other help to homeless and near-homeless families, a state senator said Sunday.
Sen. Mary Kay Papen, D-Las Cruces, said Richardson’s help will follow a $20,000 gift to Jardin de los Niños made by Stan Fulton, the owner of Sunland Park Racetrack and Casino. Jardin was in danger of closing because of a lack of funding, Papen said, but the aid from Fulton and the governor will help the organization keep its doors open for several months until other cash comes in.
Papen said the governor will make the announcement Monday at noon at the nonprofit’s facility, located at 999 W. Amador Ave.
“We’re very grateful both to Sunland Park racetrack and to the governor for helping this organization stay alive,” the senator said.
The governor’s office did not respond to a request for confirmation and has not released Richardson’s public schedule for the week. In fact, the governor hasn’t responded to any request for comment I’ve made in the last two weeks or so.
But Papen should be in a position to know what’s happening. Her daughter is the president of Jardin’s board of directors.
The nonprofit received another donation recently — about $2,000 worth of computer equipment from Sitel, according to the Las Cruces Sun-News. In the newspaper’s article, Jardin Executive Director Shirley Jacquez described the effect the struggling economy has had on the nonprofit.
“Request for services is way up and our funding is down,” Jacquez was quoted by the Sun-News as saying.