United States Senator Ben Ray Luján toured El Caldito Soup Kitchen to learn more about the organization and tout new funding for improvements to the kitchen.
During his visit Senator Luján was guided around the soup kitchen, viewing both the facilities and the people that worked and received food there.
In addition to this, Luján said that this tour was part of a wider trip to see how recently secured federal funding can help different entities in the region.
“Today I was proud to share some information about grants that were secured that will provide more support to update a new kitchen and provide more equipment as well. The capacity will increase from 76 people to over 150 to 200 individuals that can come in and get served,” Luján said
However, Luján has been critical on recent federal action involving food assistance. In 2025, the federal government announced major cuts to programs including SNAP. Luján introduced legislation to reverse the cuts and said that “ ripped meals away from millions of Americans.”
In light of these concerns, Luján says that food pantries like this play a vital role in the community.
“We need food. And if the federal government is going to arbitrarily make decisions that are going to eliminate access to food programs, kitchens like El Caldito matter even more. They matter to us every day. But the devastation that happen to our food banks, that trickles down to everybody that depends on access to food,” Luján said.
Steven Chavira, executive director of El Caldito, says that he liked speaking with Luján and says that they always need food, people and funding.
“We do have overhead, we do have infrastructure costs and we do have to maintain so being able to have the money that we need in order to operate and do what we do effectively is important,” Chavira said.
Chavira also shared that the soup kitchen is currently working on expanding their operation. He shared plans with the Senator that call for a revamped kitchen and more services.
“We are in the process of acquiring funding that we need for a new building. It’s called The Kitchens at El Caldito at The Community of Hope campus. What it is is a brand new soup kitchen for El Caldito which is phase one. Phase two are some entrepreneur spaces and community kitchens that Casa de Peregrinos is pushing for that will allow us to one, help people learn how to cook and help people get food businesses off of the ground but primarily to be able to feed people who are hungry," Chavira said.
