Volunteers needed!!

Tuesday, September 28th 5:00 pm to 8:00 pm

Join us for the first ever 50’s Rock ‘n’ Box.We’ll be groovin’ to the oldies while we pack emergency food boxes on the assembly line at St. Mary’s Food Bank…rockin’ for a good cause!

Oldie’s Trivia Contest

Bring your family and spend some quality time. (Kids need to be 12 or older). We’ll even serve dinner!

Make your Reservation Today! Call 602-343-3165
2831 N. 31st Avenue, Phoenix, AZ 85009 Just South of Thomas Road

Let the good times roll!

FRY’S FOOD STORES CONTINUES ITS SUPPORT OF ST. MARY’S FOOD BANK WITH $70,000 DONATION FROM ITS “BRING HOPE TO THE TABLE®” CAMPAIGN

Donation Part of $4 Million National Gift to Feeding America Network in 2010; Kroger Campaign Has Now Donated $20 Million to Food Banks Since Inception

With summer still sizzling and the demand for emergency food still climbing in Arizona, St. Mary’s Food Bank Alliance will receive another boost from longtime Food Bank supporter Fry’s Food Stores with a $70,000 check to be presented August 12 by Fry’s Zone 1 Operations Supervisor and new St. Mary’s Board of Directors member Nicki Schillhahn-Amos.

The presentation to St. Mary’s is part of Fry’s and The Kroger Co. nationwide “Bring Hope to the Table®” campaign, which will donate $3 million in funds and $1 million in product to help those struggling with hunger in the communities where the company operates. All told, the program has directed $20 million in funds and food to local food banks as they struggle to meet the demand across the country.

This Fry’s donation will allow St. Mary’s to distribute enough food to provide nearly half a million meals (490,000) to clients and agency partners.

In addition, more than two million pounds of fruits, vegetables, breads, pastries and other food is donated by Fry’s annually through St. Mary’s food rescue program, providing food for the more than 500 member agencies at 700 locations around the state who rely on the food bank for their daily food resources. Fry’s also pledged $60,000 as part of St. Mary’s $10.7 million capital campaign and store employees regularly volunteer to help sort donated food and pack Emergency Food Boxes for distribution.

“We are so grateful to Fry’s Food Stores and Kroger for their continued and constant support of food banks and the battle against hunger in Arizona,” said Terry Shannon, President and CEO of St. Mary’s Food Bank Alliance. “The combined donations of time, money and food prove Fry’s commitment to the community and how seriously they are to helping in the battle. We are energized by this latest donation and inspired by their example.”

Thorpe Surgical collects enough food for 1,232 meals for St. Mary’s food Bank Alliance

St. Mary’s Food Bank Alliance would like the thank the staff at Thorpe Surgical for collecting enough food to allow St. Mary’s to distribute 1,232 meals during their recent Food Drive. It’s just one of more than 1,700 food drives that were held for the Food Bank during 2009-10, collecting more than 1.7 million pounds of non-perishable food for Emergency Food Boxes and our 500 member agencies around Arizona.

Thank you, Thorpe Surgical!

http://thorpesurgical.com/

HELP ST. MARY’S FOOD BANK ALLIANCE AUG. 11 AND RECEIVE A LITTLE SLICE OF HEAVEN FROM THE BILTMORE CHEESECAKE FACTORY

First 100 People Who Donate Five Cans or Five Dollars Will Receive Reece’s Peanut Butter Chocolate Cheesecake; Earn Chance At American Idol Tickets

Last year it was the Cheesecake Factory’s Stephanie’s Red Velvet Cheesecake that enticed friends of St. Mary’s Food Bank Alliance to donate more than 3,000 canned food items to the fight against hunger.

This year, the Biltmore Fashion Park Cheesecake Factory at 2402 East Camelback Road is back to help St. Mary’s – and will hand out slices of its brand new Reece’s® Peanut Butter and Chocolate Cake Cheesecake to the first 100 people who donate at least five cans or five dollars to the Food Bank. The giveaway begins at 8 a.m. on Aug. 11 and will continue until noon – or until the last slice has been spoken for.

There is an added bonus this year. Donors also eligible to enter a drawing on-site for one of six pair of tickets to the American Idol LIVE! Concert at US Airways Center on Thursday, Aug. 12. Winners will be notified after noon on Aug. 11 and will pick up their tickets at the Will Call booth at the USAC on the day of the show.

Last year, St. Mary’s collected the most cans of any Food Bank during a 30-city national tour of Cheesecake Factories from coast-to-coast, providing more than 5,000 meals for hungry Arizonans – not to mention those who got their slice of Stephanie’s Red Velvet. Don’t let this second chance at an incredible dessert pass you by!

ST. MARY’S FOOD BANK ALLIANCE DISTRIBUTES ALL-TIME RECORD 72 MILLION POUNDS OF FOOD TO THE HUNGRY OF ARIZONA DURING 2009-10

St. Mary’s Remains Largest Food Bank in the United States; Nearly 400,000 Emergency Food Boxes Distributed Through Food Bank and Partner Agencies

Breaking its own 43-year-old record for the second consecutive year, St. Mary’s Food Bank Alliance distributed an all-time high 72,262,239 pounds of food during fiscal year 2009-10 – the most of any food bank in the United States by a margin of more than 10 million pounds.

The distribution figure is a 6.8 percent increase over the then-record 67,687,217 pounds of food distributed in fiscal year 2008-09, which was the most ever distributed by St. Mary’s since it was founded by John van Hengel in 1967 as the world’s first food bank. At a rate of more than six million pounds a month, the numbers indicate that the need for emergency food in Arizona continues to grow as does the need to find new sources of food and funds to meet that demand.

In just two years, St. Mary’s distribution totals have risen more than 66 percent, from 43.4 million pounds in 2007-08 to the current 72.2 million pound total. The biggest jump has come in emergency food distribution – often first-time visitors to the food bank who through unemployment or underemployment are forced to seek help in feeding their families for the first time. The 399,167 Emergency Food Boxes distributed this year is a 105 percent jump over the 193,825 “EFBs” distributed in 2007-08.

St. Mary’s Food Bank Alliance has been able to respond to the demand only through the benevolence of the people of Arizona: from individual donations and tributes; to donations from corporations, companies and businesses; to the more than 86,000 individual volunteers who donated more than 386,000 hours in 2009-10, a workforce that equates to more than 150 full-time employees, that collected, sorted and inspected food and packed it into emergency food boxes for those in need in the community.

“We are proud to be the largest food bank in the country for the second consecutive year, but it comes with the grim reality that so many people in Arizona are counting on St. Mary’s and those who donate and volunteer at the Food Bank as a lifeline,” St. Mary’s Food Bank President and CEO Terry Shannon said. “From Phoenix, to Surprise to Flagstaff, the need has been recognized and the call has been answered.

“We move into another year knowing that food insecurity will remain a reality and could still become one for more families as the current economic conditions persist. And we will continue to count on those who recognize the importance of helping their community as the catalyst to continue our mission.”