Grand Canyon University and CityServe are teaming up to create a huge distribution HUB that will offer thousands of household goods to families in need around the state.
GCU is creating a 35,000-square-foot warehouse on campus that will hold clothes, heaters, blankets, furniture, mattresses, food boxes and other crucial items that major retailers provide through CityServe. This warehouse/HUB is under construction and the distribution will likely start in the fall. It will mostly be run by volunteers and will offer the items to points of distribution including churches, schools and social service organizations that will then give them to families in need. GCU already has identified 40 community partners that will act as points of distribution and it plans to eventually connect to more than 100 organizations.
GCU President Brian Mueller said this partnership is a “natural extension” of the university’s broader outreach work and its five-point plan to enhance its surrounding community. CityServe empowers local churches and service organizations to help people in need and its mission “aligns perfectly with GCU,” Mueller said.
CityServe, formed in 2017, is a collaborative network of faith-based non-profit organizations and corporate, retail, farm and food supply partnerships that offer resources and empower them to make a larger impact in the world. This network, as of press time, has distributed 15 million food boxes to communities via the Faith-Based Community for Farmers to Families partnership. CityServe has distributed $749 million worth of household items, assisting more than 62 million people. It received donations and surplus supplies from Amazon, Costco, Home Depot, Lowe’s and other large retailers.
CityServe CEO Dave Donaldson said GCU “will become a model for CityServe’s university-based vision to equip and mobilize students to meet community needs” and help families transition from being dependent to sustainable. Mueller added that there is much need in the neighborhood around the university, as well as around Phoenix and Arizona. CityServe has more than 2,000 HUBs in the United States, with the largest one in Bakersfield, Calif., where $100 million worth of goods have been distributed. Mueller envisions the GCU HUB will make a similar impact. He said assisting families not only provides them essential household goods but also allows GCU and CityServe to provide long-term help via its nine colleges in areas including job readiness, tutoring, addiction counseling, health clinics and fiscal literacy.
The GCU-CityServe partnership officially formed in December when the university started offering food boxes from Shamrock Farms to organizations in Phoenix via the Farmers to Families program. About 18,000 food boxes have been donated through GCU. That partnership will be extended through the creation of the GCU HUB and warehouse to distribute other types of items to those needing helping.
GCU located at 3300 W. Camelback Road. To learn more, visit www.gcu.edu.
