Throughout the year, but especially during Hunger Action Month, employees at Plexus Worldwide volunteer their time at St. Mary’s Food Bank and elsewhere as part of their company mission to end hunger (submitted photo).
Currently, in Arizona, one in five kids don’t know where their next meal is coming from; one in seven Arizona families are classified as food insecure, which means that they don’t have a steady source of food, or they don’t have enough in their budget to meet their food needs. Those numbers have seen a steady increase in recent years, and the demographic of those needing help is shifting.
“We definitely take care of folks who are homeless or unhoused at St. Mary’s Food Bank and help out a lot of organizations that provide food service,” said Jerry Brown at St. Mary’s Food Bank. “But the vast majority of the people that come to the food bank for help have jobs. They just don’t have enough coming in to take care of the rising cost of home, gas, food and other necessities.”
Through its network of 700 service agency partners and its three Valley distribution sites, the nonprofit feeds 250,000 people each day and covers roughly two-thirds of the state. Sadly, that number is expected to increase as the cost of living continues to rise and federal cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) go into effect.
“With the SNAP cuts that are coming, we anticipate that we’re going to see problems. We haven’t seen that impact yet. It just went into effect on Sept. 1,” Brown said. “But what we have seen is a 10 percent increase in the number of people who came to the food bank this year over last year – about 200,000 more visits this year than we did last year. Last year we had 2.2 million visits, this year we had 2.4 million visits. That’s a 10 percent increase, and that 10 percent increase has been consistent every year since COVID.
“These 10 percent increases that we are seeing annually add up. And now the government is making cuts to the SNAP program, or at least making folks show that they are working or trying to find jobs, and there are people who are not going to be eligible for SNAP benefits. Those people are going to be coming to the food bank for help. There is no way that food banks are going to be able to make up the amount of meals that are going to be lost through SNAP cuts. But we’ll do the best we can.”
The nonprofit does have help from the private sector. St. Mary’s partners with companies like Plexus Worldwide, which set a goal of 50 million contributed meals, and it works with Feeding America, a national network of food banks founded by St. Mary’s, as well as other organizations through its Nourish One initiative.
“We believe that wellness begins with access to proper nutrition,” said Elizabeth Woods, director of philanthropy at Plexus Worldwide. “Through our Nourish One initiative, we support communities in need by turning product purchases, volunteer events, fundraising and food drives into real impact. To date, we’ve helped contribute over 47.4 million meals in partnership with Feeding America and Mary’s Meals.”
The company’s employees also spend time volunteering every year during Hunger Action Month in September, but more work and broader support will be necessary to meet the growing need. Whether it is volunteering to help pack the 100,000 emergency food boxes that go out each month, packing one of 20,000 Thanksgiving meals, organizing food drives or making a monetary donation (every dollar donated equates to five meals, Brown says), the community can help make a difference.
In the meantime, Brown says that Phoenix families who need assistance can start by calling 602-242-FOOD (3663) or go online to www.stmarysfoodbank.org.
“We’ve been doing this for 58 years,” he said. “We’ve never said ‘no’ to anybody who needs food, and it’s our goal to continue to do that. If you can help, we need you. And if you need help, don’t be afraid to come to us.”
