This annual food drive has grown from a regional to a national effort that provides assistance to the millions of Americans struggling to put food on the table. It has become the  largest single-day food drive benefiting St. Mary’s Food Bank Alliance.

Thank you to the public for their generous donations, to the NALC for spearheading this major effort, and a huge thank you to all the letter carriers who went above and beyond the call of duty to participate in this drive. It is their choice to make the extra effort of collecting the food for us and we appreciate them more than we can say!

Pictured: Gary Jarrette, George Mignosi, National VP of NALC, and Anthony Gutierrez at the Arcadia Postal Station

The event will kick off on Thursday, May 23 with a two-hour phone bank to help raise funds for the world’s first food bank, along with spotlighting stories on St. Mary’s impact in the community.

Then from Tuesday, May 28 through Sunday June 2, the scene moves to the Arrowhead Towne Center in Glendale where Safeway will help St. Mary’s build the word HUNGER six feet high with non-perishable food. Everyone is invited to help “Make Hunger Disappear” with your donations over the six day period. Come out to take part in the interactive games and have a chance to win a vacation on US Airways. Watch CBS 5 all week for features on St. Mary’s and updates on the attempt to bring down the wall!

You can make your donation here!

Additionally, on Mother’s Day, Sunday, May 12, moms get in for free and everyone else in the group will receive 50 percent off of general admission by each brin
ging in at least five non-perishable food items as well. ‘We’re thrilled to kick off our 44^th season by partnering with the original food bank, St. Mary’s Food Bank Alliance, and to provide to those in need,” said Bob Pena, Big Surf Waterpark General Manager.  Globally, St. Mary’s Food Bank is considered the world’s first bank and in 1969, Big Surf Waterpark opened as the world’s first-ever Waterpark.Beginning on May 4, Big Surf Waterpark is only open on Saturdays and Sundays through May 19.  The Waterpark is then open every single day from Saturday, May 25 through August 4.  Then it’s back to a Saturday and Sunday only schedule from August 10 through September 29, when the 2013 season concludes.

The Stamp Out Hunger food drive, held on the second Saturday in May, has become the  largest single-day food drive benefiting St. Mary’s Food Bank Alliance.

“We’re incredibly excited for the 21^st year of the Stamp Out Hunger food drive,” said Fredric V. Rolando, NALC president. “We’re asking people across the country for their support to make this year the most successful in the drive’s history. It’s so easy to make a donation: simply leave a bag of non-perishable food items by your mailbox to help neighbors in need. That’s all it takes.”

To participate in the annual Stamp Out Hunger food drive in Arizona, residents are encouraged to leave a sturdy bag containing non-perishable food items, such as canned soup, canned vegetables, peanut butter, pasta, rice or cereal, next to their mailbox prior to the time of regular mail delivery on Saturday, May 11. Arizona’s letter carriers will collect these food donations as they deliver the mail and take them to St. Mary’s Food Bank Alliance.

For more information about the annual Stamp Out Hunger food drive in Arizona, visit www.helpstampouthunger.com.

At St. Mary’s Food Bank Alliance, our vision is that no child goes to bed hungry.  With the help of our supporters, we send backpacks full of food home with nearly 600 kids every weekend.  You can help support our program with a daily click on Facebook in the month of April.

From now until April 30, we are taking part in a voting competition on Facebook that could help us secure $45,000 for the Backpack Program. We need to be in the top 40 out of 123 other food banks across the nation to qualify for one of the Walmart Fighting Hunger Together grants.

To help us receive one of these grants, we are asking the public to vote every day until April 30 here: http://bit.ly/vote4smfb. You will need a Facebook account to participate.

Our 8 to 9 pound backpacks contain 15 to 20 non-perishable food items. These are mostly single serve, child-friendly items meant for individual children to enjoy as five meals and two snacks over the weekend.

Menu items vary, but can include shelf-stable milk, 100% fruit juice, fruit snacks, canned vegetables, granola bars, single-serve cereal boxes, pretzels, PB&J packets, canned meals, canned chicken and trail mix. This food is all purchased then packaged and sealed in bags by our volunteers. The total cost for St. Mary’s to assemble the backpacks is $7 per bag.

Thank you for your support!

Yes, it’s the time of year you’ve been waiting for! Come into any of 15 Phoenix Public Library locations from April 13^th to April 27^th with canned or non-perishable food items for St. Mary’s Food Bank Alliance and the library will wipe out any outstanding fines.

During “Food for Fines,” you’ll receive a 50-cent credit per canned or non-perishable food toward your library fines. This year, Phoenix Public Libraries have decided to raise the maximum total of fines that can be paid with donated food from $50 to as much as $75! Remember that “Food for Fines” does not apply to lost items or collections.

The program has collected as much as 25,000 pounds of food in past years – so we know you’ve been waiting for this chance to come correct with your favorite librarian! Library branches taking part in the “Food for Fines” program that benefit St. Mary’s Food Bank Alliance include:

Burton Barr Main Branch – 1221 North Central Avenue, Phoenix

Agave - 23550 North 36th Avenue, Phoenix

Cesar Chavez - 3635 West Baseline Road, Laveen

Century - 1750 East Highland Avenue, Phoenix

Cholla - 10050 Metro Parkway East, Phoenix

Desert Sage – 7602 West Encanto Boulevard, Phoenix

Harmon – 1325 South 5th Avenue, Phoenix

Ironwood – 4333 East Chandler Boulevard, Phoenix, AZ

Palo Verde – 4402 North 51st Avenue, Phoenix, AZ

Saguaro - 2808 North 46th Street, Phoenix, AZ

South Mountain – 7050 S. 24^th Street, Phoenix, AZ

Yucca - 5648 North 15th Avenue, Phoenix, AZ

For information on “Food for Fines” or for a listing of the new Phoenix Library operating hours, log on to www.phoenixpubliclibrary.org.

The public will decide what organization will receive the grants through a voting campaign at www.facebook.com/walmart that includes more than 300 different hunger relief organizations from across the country. The more votes a Feeding America food bank or partner agency receives, the better chances they have of winning the money. The funds won will then be used to support local child hunger relief programs, like the St. Mary’s Backpack Program that sends at-risk kids home with nutritious food to eat at home over the weekend.

“Winning this grant from Walmart will help St. Mary’s reach more kids and augment our backpack program which now reaches only a fraction of the one in four Arizona children who are at risk of hunger each day,” said Beverly Damore, President and CEO of St. Mary’s Food Bank. “Those who wish to help need only cast their vote for St. Mary’s to help the World’s First Food Bank further its mission.”

The public will be able to vote for St. Mary’s through 11:59 pm ET on April 30 at www.facebook.com/walmart. Visitors to the page can award one “vote” a day to their favorite program. At the conclusion of the voting, top vote getters will split $3 million in funding from Walmart.

Funding for child hunger programs is especially critical given the significant need that exists. According to the USDA, more than 16 million children in the United States struggle with hunger. Here in Maricopa, there are an estimated 245,000 children who struggle with hunger.

Vote here:

http://bit.ly/vote4smfb

No child deserves to go to bed hungry. You can get involved by becoming a tournament sponsor in the fight against childhood hunger, or by simply signing a team up to play.

Eagle Sponsors ($10,000 level) will receive:

• Three complimentary foursomes to play in the tournament

• Recognition in interviews and promos on 1510 AM KFNN Money Radio

• Recognition in Horn of Plenty Food Bank Newsletter (circulation 40,000)

• Most prominent logo signage at tournament and luncheon

• Logo recognition in Official Tournament Program

• Inclusion in all event related promotions, press releases

• Logo and recognition on Food Bank website (www.FirstFoodBank.org)

• Post-tournament recognition on St. Mary’s social sites (Facebook, WordPress and Twitter)

Birdie Sponsor ($5,000 level) will receive:

• Two complimentary foursomes to play in the tournament

• Recognition in Horn of Plenty Food Bank Newsletter (circulation 40,000)

• Logo signage at tournament and luncheon

• Logo recognition in Official Tournament Program

• Logo and recognition on Food Bank website (www.FirstFoodBank.org)

• Post-tournament recognition on St. Mary’s social sites (Facebook, WordPress and Twitter)

Par Sponsor ($2,500 level) will receive:

• One complimentary foursome to play in the tournament

• Recognition in Horn of Plenty Food Bank Newsletter (circulation 40,000)

• Recognition in Official Tournament Program

• Recognition on Food Bank website (www.FirstFoodBank.org)

• Post-tournament recognition on St. Mary’s social sites (Facebook, WordPress and Twitter)

Tee Sponsor ($1,000 level) will receive:

• One complimentary foursome to play in the tournament

• “Proud Sponsor” signage on tee box

• Recognition in Official Tournament Program

To sign up as an individual, the cost is $250 per player, and $800 per foursome. Contact Roger Buege at 602-343-3131 or rabuege@firstfoodbank.org to sign up and help alleviate childhood hunger.

One of the Valley’s best-known radio personalities, KSLX (100.7 FM)’s morning man Mark Mayfield is preparing to climb back into his Sleep America bed for the Seventh Annual “Get in Bed with Mark” Food Drive, presented by Sleep America, to benefit St. Mary’s Food Bank Alliance.

Over the first six years, KSLX and Sleep America have raised more than 770,000 meals for the hungry of Arizona, with the 2012 drive collecting a record 171,000 meals.

Mayfield will begin his three-day live marathon at 6 a.m. on Wednesday, April 17 at Sleep America location at 20th Street and Camelback (1949 E. Camelback Rd., Suite 162) which will serve at the flagship location for the entire food drive. He will literally get into a Sleep America bed aboard a flat-bed truck outside the store, asking Valley listeners to contribute both non-perishable food items and cash donations to St. Mary’s while interviewing local celebrities, and even hosting live music performances.

For the second straight year, the food drive will expand to several Albertsons locations around the Valley, with different locations serving as satellite drive sites for food and cash donations. The following Albertsons markets will serve as collection sites for each day of the drive:

Day 1: 16750 West Bell Road, Surprise (8 a.m. to 10 a.m.)

4060 West Ray Road, Chandler (11 a.m. to 2 p.m.)

5040 West Cactus Road. Glendale (10 a.m. to 3 p.m. to 5 p.m.)

21001 North Tatum Boulevard. Phoenix (5 p.m. to 7 p.m.)

Day 2: 750 East Guadalupe Road, Tempe (8 a.m. to 10 a.m.)

2785 North Scottsdale Road, Scottsdale (11 a.m. to 2 p.m.)

441 N. Val Vista Drive, Mesa (3 p.m. to 5 p.m.)

10665 North Tatum Boulevard, Phoenix (5 p.m. to 7 p.m.)

Day 3: 8240 West Deer Valley Road. Peoria (8 a.m. to 11 a.m.)

4747 East Greenway Road, Phoenix (11 a.m. to 2 p.m.)

The drive will culminate on Friday, April 19 with a special appearance by Alice Cooper and the third annual Sleep America Great Bed Race to benefit the Food Bank outside the 20th Street and Camelback location. At the end of the drive, Sleep America President and Spokesperson Debbie Gaby will raffle off the queen size Kingsdown bed which will have served as Mayfield’s home for three days and more than 50 hours of radio.

For more information on the “Get in Bed with Mark” food drive, visit www.kslx.com or www.firstfoodbank.org.

The Food Bank relies on these staples to fill the more than 30,000 emergency food boxes we give out each month and the upcoming summer months are often the most difficult times to keep supplies from depleting. Knowing of these concerns – and after already raising more than $40,000 for St. Mary’s in November – Cigna’s employees appealed to Cigna President of U.S. Regional and Operations Matt Manders for this donation that will provide more than 70,000 meals.

In addition to the donation, Manders was joined by Edward Kim, President and General Manager of Cigna Medical Group, Paul Sanders, Cigna VP of Operating Effectiveness  and other local Cigna executives in volunteering to pack emergency food boxes. This was the first ever service event for the senior leadership of Cigna and they made a competition of it. By the end of the afternoon, they had packed 60 pallets of the emergency food boxes!

“Cigna has been an invaluable partner in our mission to fight hunger and its enthusiastic employees have made it their personal cause,” said Beverly Damore, President and CEO of St. Mary’s. “This latest donation of food and funds only furthers Cigna’s commitment to a brighter day for Arizona’s hungry children.”

Peanut butter, rice and other much needed items, such as tuna, diapers, canned soups, pasta and cereals can be dropped off at any Goodwill location in the Valley. Thanks to Cigna, Daryl Washington, Big Red and the cheerleaders for bringing awareness to the issues of hunger in Arizona.