John van Hengel
Founder, St. Mary's Food Bank

Born in 1923 in Waupun, Wisconsin, John van Hengel innovated the concept of food banking in 1967. His concept was generated after he learned that grocery stores discarded food that was either nearing expiration or cast-off due to small tears or dents in the packaging. Van Hengel persuaded store managers to donate these products to a community dining room: soon, the donations were inundating the soup kitchen. Van Hengel then approached St. Mary's Basilica with the idea of creating a central location at which social service agencies could shop for the food they needed to serve their clients at no cost. The response from St. Mary's was $3,000 and an abandoned building - the food bank was born. During his non-existent spare time van Hengel created America's Second Harvest (the nation's largest domestic hunger-relief organization), traveled Canada and Europe to help set up food banks and founded International Food Bankng Services, a consulting firm for infant food banks. Van Hengel was also integral in getting the Good Samaritan Act passed.

Terry Shannon
Chief Executive Officer and President

Terry Shannon began his career in the foodservice distribution industry as a Territory Manager in 1977 with H.F. Behrhorst in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Behrhorst was acquired by Alliant (then known as Kraft Foodservice) in 1988. Over the years, Terry has held a series of positions of increasing responsibility including market level roles as a Major Account Manager (Pittsburgh), Sales Manager (Pittsburgh), VP of Sales (Pittsburgh) and Market President (Salt Lake City and Phoenix). Terry held the position of Vice President Sales Support and Administration based out of Alliant's corporate headquarters in Deerfield. In that role he was responsible for the development of processes and systems to support the field sales organization with primary focus on the street segment. In 1998 he moved into the role of West Division VP of Sales with responsibility for $1.2 billion in sales. In 2000, Terry was promoted to Vice President and General Manager of Financial Shared Services based out of Phoenix, Arizona. Where he oversaw the centralized functions servicing Accounts Payable, Account Receivables, Supplier Incentive System tracking and billing and Payroll for all Alliant/US Foodservice distribution centers across the country.

Terry joined the St. Mary's Food Bank Alliance Board of Directors in March of 2003. He was then selected to fill the role of Executive Director at the food bank in December of 2003 due to the retirement of the food bank's previous Executive Director.

Terry has a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business from Marquette University in Milwaukee and Masters Degree in Business from the Executive MBA program at the University of Pittsburgh.

Rebecca Grady
Chief Financial Officer

Rebecca Grady moved to the Phoenix area from the Pacific Northwest with her family. She received her M.B.A. from Seattle University and is currently in the process of completing her J.D. at Concord University. Rebecca has 10 years experience with non-profit and association Finance and Accounting.

Cynde Cerf
Director of Community Relations

Cynde Cerf received her Bachelor’s of Science in Communications from California State Polytechnic University of Pomona and her Masters of Mass Communication from Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School. With a background in public relations, journalism and publishing, she brings strong media, advertising and marketing skills to the Food Bank. She is a long time member of the Public Relations Society of America, serving on the Phoenix Chapter’s Board and receiving Copper Anvil Awards for her work at the Food Bank. She lives in Chandler with her husband, Ryan, and enjoys traveling abroad, learning new cultures and languages, reading books, and photography. Cynde had worked in the Food Bank’s Community Relations Department for six years when she was promoted to the position of Director.

Jack Marks
Chief Development Officer

Jack Marks has more than 30 years of professional fundraising experience. He came to Phoenix in 1983 after working at Ohio State University. As director of Arizona State University's first capital campaign, he helped raise $111 million. He worked on various capital campaigns, including one for the Herberger Center. His most recent job was as Director of Development for the Boys and Girls Club of Metropolitan Phoenix. He received his Bachelor's degree from Eastern Illinois University and his Masters from Southern Illinois University--Edwardsville. Marks serves on three community Boards and is a member of the Kiwanis Club of Phoenix.

Norm Gold
Chief Operations Officer

Norm Gold worked in retail for 24 years with the last nine years as the Store Director of an ABCO Foods Supermarket. After leaving the grocery industry, Norm pursued a job where he could have a direct impact on other's lives and see the positive results. This led Norm to St. Mary's Food Bank where he is currently Director of Programs Services and Operations. He is also the Director of Operations for the Arizona Gleaning Project, a program of the Association of Arizona Food Banks, which coordinates the delivery of food to food banks throughout Arizona and across the country. Norm was born and raised in the Long Beach, Lakewood area of California. He has two children, Matthew and Melissa and is also the stepfather to Alexsandra, daughter of his wife, Sandy. He enjoys bicycling, stamp collecting, and most importantly, spending time with his family.

Patrick Snyder
Director of Human Resources

Patrick Snyder relocated to Phoenix in 1985 from Columbus, Indiana. He joined St. Mary's Food Bank Alliance in 2000 and has 16 years of Human Resources management experience. Patrick earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from DePauw University and a Master of Business Administration degree from Indiana State University. He received his PHR (Professional in Human Resources) certification in 2001. Patrick and his wife, Dolores, enjoy raising their daughter Katie, and are very active at her St. Thomas the Apostle School.