Dear Friends:
Support from the community is important to the hundreds of thousands of Arizonans who receive food every day. They come to us directly or to one of the nonprofit agencies in the St. Mary’s network who receive food from us at no cost.
It is a tough time for many of our Arizona neighbors and they are turning to St. Mary’s Food Bank for help. They are provided pantry items, fresh produce, meat, eggs, dairy, bread, and more to feed their families.
Many people lost their jobs and St. Mary’s lost a lot as well. We lost most of our volunteer support and food drives when companies sent their staff home. Our inmate labor pool of 35 women was quarantined in March and dozens of our partner agencies have closed.
Here are some of the ways we’ve had to change over the last few months while we have been distributing more food in the history of the food bank.
- Mobilizing “pop up food distribution sites” to compensate for closed agencies.
- Hiring temporary labor and additional cleaning crews to compensate for the loss of our labor pool.
- Buying masks, gloves, Plexiglass barriers, and additional cleaning supplies.
- Most importantly buy FOOD to give to people in need.
It is only through the support of the community that we are able to provide 250,000 pounds of food to people in need throughout most of Arizona.
Find out how you can make a difference in the lives of people in need by clicking here
Thank you friends,
Tom Kertis
President and CEO
St. Mary’s Food Bank
