Albertsons Market donates over 3,000 pounds of apples to the Storehouse New Mexico

How long does it take to break down and sort more than 3,000 pounds of donated apples? Well, if you have a team of roughly 20 employees from Albertsons Market, where the majority of them are produce managers, the answer is about 30 minutes.

"They packed up the apples very quickly," said Jill Beets, marketing representative for The Storehouse New Mexico. "It might have taken another group of volunteers a whole day to do this, and they did it in half an hour and packed two pallets of food."

The volunteers opened box after box of Opal apples at the nonprofit food pantry in Albuquerque on Tuesday morning, sorted them into plastic bags and put the bags into a large container, where they will sit until The Storehouse starts distributing them to families in need. Among those doing the sorting was Joshua Henderson, Albertsons Market produce manager, who said the donation was a great way for the grocery store to give back to the community.

"There's a lot of people who don't have as much as others, and it's nice that we're doing honest work and trying to build that trust with the community," Henderson said. "We want to treat them like family."

Albertsons Market and Market Street donated 3,240 pounds of apples to The Storehouse New Mexico as part of the annual "Take a Bite Out of Hunger" program. It was part of a larger donation of more than 50,000 pounds of apples to food banks spread across Texas and New Mexico.

"This (donation) is something that aligns with our mission statement of ultimate service, superior performance and positive impact," said Carlos Hernandez, Albertsons Market regional vice president.

Tuesday's event was also a bit of a homecoming for Jimmy Harmon, who grew up down the street from The Storehouse's 106 Broadway SE location.

"I was raised here off Broadway on Lewis Avenue," he said. " It's very gratifying to me to be able to give back to the community I was raised in."

Harmon has worked with Albertsons Market for 47 years and worked with produce for the majority of his adult life.

Now the produce supervisor for 17 stores from Taos to Los Lunas, Harmon said the ability to give produce to those in need is a unique opportunity — one he's grateful to have.

"We don't always have the ability to provide produce to the needy, but (the apples) are something we can give them, and I'm sure it will bring a smile to them and their families," he said.

Opal apples' parent company, FirstFruits, has been partnering with Albertsons Market's parent company, United Supermarkets, for the past 14 years during the Take a Bite Out of Hunger program. During that time, the two companies have donated more than 600,000 pounds of apples and fed over 167,000 families, United Supermarkets said in a news release.

The donated apples won't be at The Storehouse for long. Beets said the food pantry is planning to hand them out starting Wednesday and will continue Friday and Saturday.

"Our carts are going to look really good this weekend with all those apples," Beets said. "I can see kids eating them with peanut butter on them; I see people taking them for lunch or having a healthy snack. It's just incredible."

Photos: Albertsons Market donates over 3,000 apples to the Storehouse New Mexico