John van Hengel facts for kids
John Arnold van Hengel (born February 21, 1923 – died October 5, 2005) was a special person who started something amazing: food banks! He is known as the "Father of Food Banking."
In 1967, van Hengel opened the world's first food bank, called St. Mary's Food Bank Alliance, in Phoenix, Arizona. He later helped create Feeding America, which spread the idea of food banks across the United States and then around the world.
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Early Life and New Beginnings
John van Hengel was born in Waupun, Wisconsin. He came from a Dutch family. He went to Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin, and earned a degree in Government.
After college, John moved to Southern California. Later, he moved to Phoenix, Arizona after an injury. He regained his strength by swimming laps at a YMCA. At 44 years old, he became the oldest public lifeguard in Phoenix.
How the Food Bank Idea Started
When John started his life in Phoenix, Arizona, he made a promise to live simply. As a devout Roman Catholic, he began volunteering at the busy St. Vincent de Paul Soup Kitchen.
John bought an old milk truck for $150. He used it to collect extra fruit and other foods to bring to the soup kitchen. Every evening, he would deliver any leftover food to places helping people without homes in downtown Phoenix.
John wanted a better way to share this food. He talked to Father Ronald Colloty from St. Mary's Basilica about setting up a warehouse. This way, different missions could come and pick up the food.
The church helped John by lending him $3000 and an old bakery building.
John found even more food when he saw what was happening behind local grocery stores. A mother with many children showed him "a bank of food" that was being thrown away. Huge amounts of good food were being wasted by grocery stores, like frozen items that were still good, loose vegetables, and stale bread. Inside stores, John also found things like dented cans and leaky bags of rice and sugar that were still edible.
Within a year, in 1967, John had set up a place where all the food that grocery stores couldn't sell would be stored and given out. He named it St. Mary's Food Bank Alliance to honor the help from St. Mary's Basilica.
John took no salary for his first ten years at St. Mary's. He wore used clothes, got his food from the food bank, and lived in a free room above a garage.
Spreading Food Banks Across the World
In 1975, John received a $50,000 grant from the government. This money helped him set up 18 food banks across America. In 1976, John left St. Mary's and started America's Second Harvest. This organization is now known as Feeding America (since 2008).
With John's guidance, this group created rules for food banks. They also started getting food from large national companies. Businesses found it helpful because they could save money on throwing away usable food. They also got tax breaks by helping many charities.
In 1983, John left America's Second Harvest to start Food Banking Inc. This organization later became International Food Bank Services in 1991 and is now called Global FoodBanking Network. John worked as an advisor to food banks all over the world. He traveled to places like Canada, Mexico, Brussels, and Spain to help them start their own food banks.
John also helped set up food banks in Africa, Eastern Europe, Asia, South America, and Australia.
Honors and Awards
- 1972 Phoenix Valley Leadership Man of the Year
- 1972 Phoenix Advertising Club Man of The Year
- 1972 National Center for Volunteer Action National Volunteer Award
- 1980 Salvation Army Centennial Award
- 1989 Pillsbury's Pioneer Award at US Conference of Mayors
- 1992 Norman Vincent Peale's America Award for Ingenuity presented at the Kennedy Center
- 1992 National Caring Award
- 1994 Commendatory Knight of the Papal Order of St. Gregory the Great
- 2003 108th Congress Congressional Record Award for humanitarian work
- 2003 National Association of Home Care and Hospice – Mother Teresa Lifetime Achievement Award
