GRATITUDE 2015REPORT A member of JULY 1, 2014 – JUNE 30, 2015 GRATITUDE REPORT BEC AUSE YOU ARE THE HEART OF THE COMMUNITY FOOD BANK Dear Friends and Neighbors, For the last 40 years, you’ve shown a genuine desire and commitment to care for people. You've invested time and money, but you've also embraced your role as a partner, helping people discover new paths to brighter futures. Joel is one of those people. He lives in the Southwest Santa Cruz neighborhood, just outside of our Las Milpitas Community Farm, where he has a plot and grows food to feed his family and their neighbors. Perhaps what’s more, is Joel’s commitment to educating others and to improving his community. Even when his plot is tended and harvested, Joel can be found at the Farm, working with high school volunteers, taking care of the chickens and bees, or weeding the common areas. For him, the Farm is not just a place to grow food. It’s a place for learning and teaching and inspiring others to advocate for better opportunities for themselves, their community, and future generations. I am inspired by Joel, and by you. Because, through your support of the Community Food Bank, you are giving people just like him the tools to improve their lives, to cultivate social change, and to find pathways out of poverty. Feeding people in need today remains at the heart of the work we do. But, with courage, innovation, and you by our side, providing opportunities for self-sufficiency will guide us into the future. Yours in service, Michael McDonald Chief Executive Officer and President Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona 1975 1976 1978 • An outgrowth of the advocacy • The CFB officially opens, and • Charles “Punch” Woods joins organization Food Action Coalition of distributes 10,533 emergency the CFB as Executive Director Tucson, founded by Dan Duncan and Mark food boxes its first year. • 120 social service agencies Homan, the Community Food Bank (CFB) request food for hungry is incorporated as a nonprofit. families. • Dan Duncan becomes the first Executive Director. 2 GR ATITUDE R EPORT JULY 1, 2014 – JUNE 30, 2015 A healthy, hunger-free MISSION community. STATEMENT At the Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona, we change lives in the communities OUR we serve by feeding the hungry today and VISION building a healthy, hunger-free tomorrow. Dear Dedicated Supporters, I feel an overwhelming sense of gratitude when I think of all that this community has shared over the last 40 years. I’m grateful for our friends at more than a dozen rural, Southeastern Arizona hunger relief organizations, who help distribute fresh produce from the Community Food Bank in Willcox (p. 17) to those in need in their communities. I’m grateful for the collaboration of local schools and nonprofits. With their tireless support, the new School Pantry Program (p. 5) is operating at five local schools, benefitting low-income families throughout Tucson. I’m grateful for partnerships with the Tucson Unified School District and Tucson Medical Center (p. 15), which allow us to reach more people with healthy, locally- sourced food and boost revenue for small-scale farmers. And, I’m grateful for you. Together, we are moving forward in new directions that embrace both feeding people in need, and giving them the tools to create a better future. And, in doing so, we are bravely changing the physical and economic health of our community. But, none of it would be possible without you. With thanks and appreciation, Katie Maxwell Board President Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona 1982 1983 1984 • Increasing requests for emergency food prompt • The CFB becomes a member of • The Green Valley Branch Bank a move to a new warehouse on 27th Street, Second Harvest, now Feeding opens in the Green Valley PPEP multiplying warehouse space from 1,800 to America, the nationwide network facility 18,000 square feet. of food banks. • The CFB hosts the “Hunger 100,” a • The Ajo Branch Bank is founded. 100-kilometer cycling fundraiser JULY 1, 2014 – JUNE 30, 2015 G R ATITUDE REPORT 3 HUNGER RELIEF 4 GR ATITUDE R EPORT JULY 1, 2014 – JUNE 30, 2015 HUNGER RELIEF Serving families, improving lives, and strengthening our community Canned goods are stacked on one table, and fresh produce on another. Kids run in and out of the cafeteria, and parents wait patiently. The monthly school pantry is open at Dietz K-8. Tana has three children attending Dietz, and this is their favorite day. “They love the fruit, especially apples." A service of the Child Nutrition Program, school pantries offer a safe environment where low-income students and their families can pick up emergency food provisions. They’re also a space where child nutrition staff teach kids about healthy eating through fun activities, and family advocates provide information about SNAP and other assistance programs. Julie Wanat, Community School Liaison, says the partnership has made a tremendous difference. “By helping our families improve their lives, it’s strengthening our community. It’s an incredible program.” With YOUR SUPPORT Additional School Pantries Since4 then, 4 additional school pantries have been established at schools The School Pantry Program throughout Tucson, including Blenman began in late-2014 at Elementary, Southside Community, Wright Elementary School. and Lawrence Intermediate. Tana, a parent, stands with Julie Wanat, Community School Liaison. Tana says, “I don’t want my kids to be hungry. I want them to stay in school 25,066 lbs and go to college.” 40 Families Since the start of the program, At Dietz, 40 families 25,066 pounds have been distributed use the service every month. to 1,391 families. 1985 1986 1987 • Community leaders in • The CFB and several other local, social • Distribution of Food Plus, a supplemental food service Marana ask the CFB to service organizations create and host supplied specifically to seniors, begins at 1603 W. Grant Road. include the existing the first Holiday Share to better serve • Second Harvest elects Punch Woods to its Board of Directors. Marana Food Bank as families during the holidays. one of its branch banks. • The CFB uses a Community Development Block Grant to build • Staff participate in Hands Across the 2,700 square foot warehouse of the Marana Branch Bank, America, a national publicity campaign which is still in use today. to form a human chain coast-to-coast in support of human needs. JULY 1, 2014 – JUNE 30, 2015 G R ATITUDE REPORT 5 HUNGER RELIEF Still grateful after years of hardship Humble and soft-spoken, Tom rarely talks about the hardships he’s faced. After sustaining a military injury at 18, he endured numerous operations to stop the seizures that plagued him. “It was almost impossible to find permanent employment,” he says. For years, he provided for his family by moving from odd job to odd job, but there was never any excess to put into savings. Retired now, Tom and his wife, Maria, struggle to make ends meet. “Maria has health problems, and we have medications we have to buy. We usually run out of food and money before the month is up.” But, Tom and Maria are grateful for the help they receive at the Community Food Bank in Marana, where they go during the more challenging months. “If there are people who need help, you better believe the staff is going to do anything they can to help them. We always leave with a smile on our faces,” Tom says. With YOUR SUPPORT Approximately 80,000 pounds of food 80,000 are distributed each month from the pounds Community Food Bank in Marana. “There were times I couldn’t think of anything other than whether or 112,748 people benefitted from not I’d be alive tomorrow. It was 1,052,411 pounds last year. hard to think of the future.” – Tom, a client at the Community Food Bank in Marana On average, 32% of clients served in Marana are over age 60. 32%over age 60 1988 1989 1990 • Tucson’s Table, now referred • The CFB co-sponsors and participates in the • The CFB expands operations to include a 30,000 to as Agency Market, begins. inaugural C.A.R.E Fair, which provides food, square foot building on Park Avenue that houses • Amado Branch Bank opens. school supplies, immunizations, and other Food Plus, Tucson’s Table, the Pima County Health human services to low-income families. Department certifying office, the Hunger Awareness Resource Center (HARC), and administrative offices. 6 GR ATITUDE R EPORT JULY 1, 2014 – JUNE 30, 2015 HUNGER RELIEF Helping to take a weight off With YOUR SUPPORT their shoulders “They saved us,” says Clara, a mother of three young children and a client at the Community Food Bank in Green Valley. “When my More than 56,000 clients received emergency food assistance in partner José’s mother passed away, we went from a family of five Green Valley last year. to a family of nine.” When tragedy struck, Clara and José opened their home to José’s brother and sister, and their children. She says, “It was the right thing to do, but it made life challenging.” Of the 1.2 million pounds that were With your support, the Food Bank was there when they needed distributed, more than 181,000 were it. “They lifted a weight off our shoulders. We could go there and fresh produce. get vegetables, and have a little left over to keep gas in the car or pay utilities.” But, for Clara, the Food Bank means more. “The staff and the volunteers are so kind.