St. Mary's Food Bank facts for kids
 |
|
| Formation | 1967 |
|---|---|
| Type | Nonprofit 501(c)(3) |
| Purpose | Hunger relief Food security |
| Headquarters | 2831 N. 31st Avenue |
|
Region served
|
United States |
| Affiliations | Feeding America |
| Website | https://www.firstfoodbank.org/ |
St. Mary's Food Bank Alliance is a special group in Phoenix, Arizona. It's a nonprofit organization, which means it uses all its money to help people, not to make a profit. It also helps people of all backgrounds.
This amazing group was started in 1967 by a kind person named John van Hengel. St. Mary's was the very first "food bank" in the world! This idea of collecting extra food to give to people who need it spread all over the United States and even to other countries.
Since it began, St. Mary's has grown a lot. It now helps people in 9 of Arizona's 15 counties. Every year, they give out millions of pounds of food to people who are hungry. St. Mary's also has its own food pantry. This lets people get food directly from their warehouses. The organization also runs special programs, like after-school activities for kids and job training for adults.
St. Mary's is part of Feeding America. This is a big group of hunger-relief organizations. John van Hengel also started Feeding America to help provide food to people across the country.
Contents
How St. Mary's Food Bank Started
Before starting St. Mary's Food Bank, John van Hengel lived in Phoenix. He volunteered at a place called St. Vincent de Paul Soup Kitchen. John spent a lot of time collecting food for the soup kitchen. He also gave extra food to people experiencing homelessness in the city.
One day, he met a mother with 10 children who was struggling. She told him she fed her kids with food that grocery stores threw away. She wished there was a place where unwanted food could be collected and given to hungry people. She thought it could be like a bank that collects and gives out money.
John looked through dumpsters and saw that much of the thrown-out food was still good to eat. This gave him an idea! He decided to create a "food bank." This would be a place where good, unwanted food could be gathered in large amounts.
St. Mary's Basilica in Phoenix helped John. They loaned him $3,000 and gave him an old bakery building to use. With this help, St. Mary's Food Bank was started in 1967. It was named after the basilica to thank them for their support.
Early Days and Growth
St. Mary's started by working with grocery stores, food makers, and other helpful groups in Phoenix. They acted like a central hub for these partners. In their first year, St. Mary's gave out over 250,000 pounds of food! By the end of 1968, John van Hengel said that number grew to "about a million pounds of food."
At first, St. Mary's didn't have much money. So, they relied a lot on volunteers to help them. Their main goal was to get food, not just money donations. Their motto was: "the poor we shall always have with us, but why the hungry?" This motto helped them attract more volunteers and partner groups. This allowed the food bank to help more people in Phoenix and other parts of Arizona.
By 1975, the idea of food banking became popular in other parts of the United States. John van Hengel was offered money from the government to help spread the food bank idea across the country. He left St. Mary's to start the organization now known as Feeding America. He came back to St. Mary's in 1982. He also worked as an advisor for new food banks as the idea spread worldwide.
St. Mary's kept helping people in Arizona using the same successful plan. Today, St. Mary's collects and gives out meals to more than 600 groups all over the state. They believe they will provide over 90 million meals to Arizonans in 2019. Their goal is to give 100 million meals to those in need by 2021.
How St. Mary's Helps People
St. Mary's has many ways to help people get the food they need. They also offer programs to help families grow stronger.
Food Distribution Programs
St. Mary's works with over 600 partner groups in 9 different Arizona counties. These partners include homeless shelters, food pantries, and dining halls. St. Mary's still uses the traditional "warehouse" model. This means they supply their partner groups with donated food.
St. Mary's also has its own food pantry. This allows people to get food directly from their warehouses. They often have "mobile" food pantries too. These are semi-trucks full of food that travel to different places in Arizona. These mobile pantries usually have regular schedules. But they can also be sent out for special needs. For example, during the 2018–19 United States federal government shutdown, St. Mary's held a mobile food pantry. It provided food for local TSA employees who were working without pay.
Helping Children Eat Well
About one in four children in Arizona struggle with hunger. Arizona is ranked as one of the top states for food insecurity in the U.S. To help with this, St. Mary's has special programs to give healthy meals to children.
- Kids Cafe® is an after-school program. Children can get free meals here while also getting help with homework or playing games. This program provides about 6,000 meals every day. It helps kids at over 130 locations in Arizona. The program is also available during the summer. This is important because children might not get free meals from school when it's closed.
- The Backpack Program works with schools and community centers. They give out bags packed with enough food for a weekend. These bags are given to children once a week. The goal is to help their whole family. Each bag has enough food to feed a family of four for three meals. St. Mary's works with over 100 schools and community centers. They give out 3,000 backpacks each week.
Community Kitchen Program
The Community Kitchen is a 12-week course. Adults learn how to work in the food service industry. They also learn important career and professional skills. This program helps people who have trouble finding jobs. It gives them the skills to become more independent. They also get help finding a job after finishing the course.
How You Can Help St. Mary's
St. Mary's needs help from people in the community to keep going. Here are some ways people get involved:
- Volunteering in the warehouse
- Starting a food drive or a fund drive to collect food or money
- Creating partnerships with new organizations
- Attending and working at special events
- Making monetary donations
- Speaking up for policy changes and spreading awareness about hunger in Arizona
