Vote for ABQ Mom’s 2025 Nonprofit Spotlight

Thank you for your nominations for ABQ Mom’s 2025 Nonprofit Spotlight!

Based on your nominations, we have selected five amazing nonprofit organizations empowering Albuquerque moms and impacting our local community. But we’d like your input!

Please vote for one deserving nonprofit to receive a media marketing package and the full support of the ABQ Mom community.

Scroll to the bottom to vote.

Voting ends on Friday, June 13.

Junior League of Albuquerque

The Junior League of Albuquerque (JLA) is a chapter of the Association of Junior Leagues International. It belongs to a vast network of women working to identify unmet needs, forge effective coalitions, and create change. JLA is an organization of women whose mission is to advance women’s leadership for meaningful community impact through volunteer action, collaboration, and training. JLA is dedicated to building a better community and has been the driving force behind initiatives and institutions that make our community a healthier, more vital place to live since 1934. 

Recognizing an unmet need for diapers in the Albuquerque area, JLA founded a diaper bank in 2018 under the National Diaper Bank Network. It is the only diaper bank serving the Albuquerque Metro area. Run by volunteer members, the diaper bank collects, purchases, and packs diapers for community partners across the Albuquerque Metro Area. Community partners place monthly orders and receive diapers at no cost to distribute to their clients. Through these partnerships, JLA distributes thousands of diapers every year.

JLA has collected and donated over 100,000 diapers to our Albuquerque community since 2020. The diapers are given to more than 16 community partners, including CYFD, New Day, APS McKinney-Vento Program (Title I), Walking IN Grace with Survivors of Torture (WINGS), United Voice for Newcomer Rights, and more.

Locker #505

Locker #505 is a student clothing bank that provides appropriate school clothing to K-12 students in the Albuquerque metro. What students wear can leave a lasting impression on those around them, bolstering their confidence and self-worth. When provided with comfortable, suitable clothing, students can focus on their education without worrying about their appearance. 

Locker #505 was founded in 2014 after the closing of a BCCPTA clothing bank that had served students since 1950. Locker 505 opened to fill the gap and provide a student-centered clothing facility for children in need.

Students can visit Locker #505 by appointment to try on and choose outfits that make them feel good. Locker #505 also receives new shoes, school supplies, hygiene items, books, and toys. When students come to Locker 505, they are provided with a positive experience where they can express their preferences and find clothing that fits their needs, giving them every opportunity to learn and to succeed.  

Locker 505 depends on a small staff, volunteers, and local business supporters to collect, process, and provide donated clothing. Locker #505 has served over 12,000 students thanks to generous donations from the community. 

Rape Crisis Center 

For the past 50 years, the Rape Crisis Center (RCC) of Central New Mexico has provided advocacy, counseling, and education to victims, their families, and the community. RCC provides free and confidential sexual assault crisis services to victims every minute of every hour of every day. RCC serves as a resource on issues regarding prevention and awareness of sexual violence. 

The center provides a 24-hour hotline, free therapeutic groups, crisis intervention services, and counseling. RCC provides immediate, compassionate, culturally sensitive, and comprehensive medical treatment and forensic evaluation by nurse experts. 

The Rape Crisis Center began as a volunteer organization before becoming a funded program on the University of New Mexico in 1979. In 2001, Albuquerque Rape Crisis Center became an independent non-profit organization. Currently, the agency has three programs plus the administrative team: Crisis Services, Community Education, and Counseling. The agency is overseen by a board of directors. Funding for the center comes from a variety of sources: Federal, State, and City governments, grants, a private foundation, and individual donors.  

NM Kids Matter

NM Kids Matter advocates for Albuquerque’s most vulnerable children—those in the foster system who have experienced abuse or neglect. As the only direct-service CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates) program in Bernalillo County, it recruits, trains, and supports community volunteers (CASAs). CASAs advocate for a child’s best interests in court and beyond.

NM Kids Matter serves children who have often endured profound trauma, instability, and loss. Many are placed in unfamiliar homes, enrolled in new schools, and separated from siblings. CASA volunteers are trained to meet each child with compassion, empathy, and consistency. These advocates often become one of the only stable, trusted adults in these children’s lives—someone who listens, shows up, and speaks up for their best interests.

Advocacy from NM Kids Matter helps prevent the children it serves from being lost in the system. NM Kids Matter advocates for the children’s best interests to help them find a safe, nurturing, and permanent home. Studies have shown that children with a CASA do better in school than their peers who don’t have one. 

Rio Grande Down Syndrome Network

Rio Grande Down Syndrome Network (RGDSN) is a nonprofit organization that empowers individuals with Down Syndrome and their families through advocacy, education, and support. It is a collaborative network that seeks to create awareness, ensure inclusion, and promote independence in individuals with Down Syndrome.

RGDSN started as a network for families with children who have Down syndrome. After incorporating in 2009, members have organized to provide programs, networking events, and mom and dad outings. These events include a monthly Mom’s Night Out, playgroups, and a private moms group chat where moms can share successes and challenges, ask questions, and get advice. RGDSN provides a scholarship to sponsor several families attending the National Down Syndrome Congress Convention. There, they can access resources and cutting-edge research and see what nationwide groups are doing in the Down Syndrome community.

Over 450 families are part of the network. RGDSN strives to stay true to its roots by providing personable and friendly support for families first and foremost, creating a sense of community through connection, events, and programs that let families know that they are not alone.