More people need help from metro Phoenix food banks now than during the pandemic
At the St. Mary’s Food Bank location in Surprise, we have traditionally seen about 200 families visit to receive emergency food each day. That number alone is concerning.
Earlier this month we were astounded to see 518 families show up at that same location. And for much of this year, that number has consistently topped 300.
Households living on the edge. Seniors on fixed incomes struggling to get by.
That is what inflation — the soaring prices of rent, food, gas, medicine and just about anything else you can think of — has done to so many in 2023.
Almost 1 in 5 families we see each month are coming for the first time.
Many who have helped others now need help
Those who donated to the food bank or volunteered packing boxes in the past are now on the other side of the line. It’s something they never thought would happen, a humbling, difficult day.
St. Mary’s and other food banks in Arizona are working hard to meet the need, to say “yes” to every new family who suddenly needs help.
On May 13, every family in Arizona can help a family without leaving their driveway.
For the past 31 years across America, United States Postal Service letter carriers have used the second Saturday in May to give back: Using their mail trucks to conduct the largest single-day food drive in the world.
To participate in Stamp Out Hunger 2023, please leave a bag of nonperishable food at your mailbox before your mail arrives.
Your letter carrier will do the rest, taking the food back to the post office where USPS and food bank volunteers will be waiting. The thank-you card left behind lets you know your food is on the way to a family in need.
The need is greater now than during the pandemic
Food banks never thought they would see client numbers rivaling the COVID-19 pandemic, when they were distributing emergency food to lines of cars at baseball stadiums and shopping malls.
Alarmingly, we are seeing more people in need this year.
We are distributing more food, purchasing more food (due to sagging donations from both public and government sources) and, like everyone else, paying a lot more for that food than ever before.
St. Mary’s distributes 350,000 meals a day.
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More than 57,000 emergency food boxes — a 2- to 3-day supply of food for a family of four — go out each month.
And with summer on the way, kids who receive free and reduced breakfast and lunch in school are home for the summer, adding to costs for moms and dads at the same time utility bills skyrocket.
Leave food at your mailbox to Stamp Out Hunger
Your role is so simple, yet so important.
You may see a reminder card and a plastic bag in your mailbox this week. You can use that bag for your donation if you wish but any bag will do.
Last year, St. Mary’s received almost 400,000 pounds of food from Stamp Out Hunger. Across Arizona, 2 million pounds were collected.
We have all been through so much in the past few years. But what has stayed strong is the compassion we have for our fellow neighbors and the desire to give back to those who need a helping hand.
Please remember Stamp Out Hunger on May 13 and, when you see them on their daily routes, thank your letter carrier for all their hard work that day.
Jerry Brown is director of public relations of St. Mary’s Food Bank. Reach him at jjbrown@stmarysfoodbank.org.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Phoenix food banks need more help now than during the pandemic
