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At just 26 years old, David Bustamante has gone out of his way to make a difference in Ruidoso.
He moved to the area from Albuquerque in October when he was given a chance to manage the Ruidoso Walgreen’s store. He is making it count with both his business sense and his obligation to make the community better.
“This is a great little town,” Bustamante said. “There’s an opportunity to get out there and make a difference.”
As the Manager of Walgreen’s, he knew he could make that difference by donating much-needed items to the NEST. He’d done something similar when working in Albuquerque, donating mostly toothbrushes, toothpaste and other dental hygienic products to the residents.
Pictured is David Bustamante, Manager of Ruidoso Walgreen’s.
Here, he’s expanded that to include shampoo, conditioner, soap and all sorts of other sundries. “There’s been a lot of excitement,” Bustamante said. “To help people in this situation means so much.”
He even organized a toy drive that brought about 60 toys and gifts to the NEST residents for the Christmas season. According to Shelter Supervisor June Shaunnessey, “David single-handedly filled the lobby of The Nest with bags and bags of toys and gifts for our residents. We deeply appreciate his and Walgreen’s support and generosity.”
Bustamante originally hails from Roswell, so he’s not unfamiliar with the area. His mother also has worked many years as a social worker, including time at a women’s shelter in Rio Rancho and methadone clinic in Albuquerque.
Her work gathering donations, support and volunteers for charities made an impression on Bustamante and gave him the impetus to do the same in his work for Walgreen’s.
Read about other “Friends of The Nest”
At first, he was a little nervous coming to Ruidoso and putting his name and face out there, without his mother leading the way. “I got a lot of these ideas from her, and she was helpful getting my foot in the door,” Bustamante said. “I’m better for it now that I’m doing it myself here.”
Of course, when anyone goes in to any charitable organization offering their time, money or donations, that organization usually is very grateful. The NEST was no exception.
Helping the NEST residents has also helped business at Walgreen’s. “People get excited when they learn we’re collecting for a local charity,” Bustamante said. “Too often, with big corporations, money raised goes national or out of town. These donations stay in town, and that resonates with people. They’ll come in to buy a few supplies and when they find we’re donating to the NEST, they’ll run back to the store to buy even more things. It’s creating a nice buzz that we care about this community,” he added. “We can afford to do things like this and we should. We have to give back.”
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