Because of Your Support, St. Mary’s Food Bank Continues to Serve our Neighbors in Need.
People like Phillip
St. Mary’s Food Bank provides food to more than 900+ partner agencies throughout most of Arizona. Among those partner agencies are two large food pantries operated by our own staff. One in Phoenix and one in Surprise. In March, when this video was created, 600-800 families were visiting these two food pantries per day. The number of people needing help keeps rising and, just yesterday, 974 households visited our food pantry in Phoenix while 225 households came to our Surprise pantry for help.
Phillip's Story
Phillip has a big heart – for his country and for his community. After he graduated high school, he served in the Marine Corps and was accepted into Officer Candidate School. Phillip left the military to become a math teacher, but soon realized he wanted to be somewhere where he make a positive impact on peoples’ lives.
Phillip applied to work at St. Mary’s Food Bank, a place close to his heart. When Phillip was a kid, he and his family experienced food insecurity.
“St. Mary’s was always there for us.”
Phillip said. “I’ve been there when you don’t have food and you’re hungry and today, it helps me to better serve those that need it.”
Phillip is the first person our clients talk to when they come to get food. He helps them without judgement, “No matter what car you drive, what you’re wearing, and what you look like, St. Mary’s doesn’t care,” he said. “They care about one thing, and that’s making sure you have food.”
On days when it’s hard to get out of bed, Phillip puts the need of our neighbors in front of him. “Right now, we are averaging 700-800 clients a day so if we don’t go to work, that’s 800 families that don’t get fed.”
And they don’t hesitate to let Phillip know how much the food means to them. “You’re helping us through tough times,” and “You fed us so much food!” are words that remind Phillip why he comes to work every day.
