Grand Opening of New Kids Cafe® Facility Expands Production of Meals For Hungry Children

It was a long-awaited, much-anticipated celebration of progress on Apr. 7 when the Kids Cafe program opened the doors to its new meal preparation facility at the St. Mary’s Food Bank Alliance Surprise facility.

The Kids Cafe program provides an important after school meal for at-risk kids who receive breakfast and lunch at school but in many cases don’t have a dinner meal waiting for them at home. One in four children in Arizona today are living in poverty, amounting to more than 260,000 children in Maricopa Country alone. Kids Cafe seeks to feed as many school-age children as possible.

“This expansion has been years in the making, and we’re very excited that the day is finally here,” said Laura Brill, Kids Cafe program manager. “The statistics of childhood hunger in Arizona are disturbing and unacceptable. This is the future of Arizona, and we feel like we need to invest now.”

What was a 200-square-foot area for volunteers to make sandwiches has expanded to an 8,500-square-foot facility that will allow the program to immediately expand from the current level of 1,700 meals per day to 3,000 by this summer and 4,000 by the end of 2011. The ultimate goal is to reach 8,000 to 10,000 meals by 2013, with the introduction of hot meals for the first time.

Currently, about 40 volunteers prepare the sandwiches, fruits and vegetables for the daily Kids Cafe meals. But more volunteers are now needed to keep up with expansion and to perform site-checks for future program sites. Anyone interested in volunteering should call Grace Rodil at (602) 343-5629 or Melissa Jensen at (602) 647-1820.

St. Mary’s Food Bank Thanks Alice Cooper for his Support of “Get in Bed With Mark” and Arizona’s hungry

St. Mary’s Food Bank Alliance would like to thank Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee Alice Cooper for his appearance at “Get in Bed With Mark” this year in support of Arizona’s hungry.

Alice was gracious enough to autograph some of his legendary CD’s for the Food Bank and also spent more than a half hour signing and posing for pictures with fans who flocked to the Paradise Valley Mall Sleep America location for a chance to meet and greet Arizona’s No. 1 rock star.

With the help of KSLX, Sleep America and an incredible list of special guests like Alice, the 2011 “Get in Bed With Mark” was most successful in the five years of the event. More than 20,000 pounds of food and more than $20,000 in cash – enough to allow St. Mary’s to distribute enough food for 160,000 meals to hungry Arizonans – was raised over the three days. Thank you KSLX, Sleep America, and thank you Alice Cooper for your time and talents.

If you are interested in purchasing an autographed Alice Cooper CD to benefit the food bank, a limited quantity is still available for a $75 tax-deductible donation. Call Jerry Brown at (602) 343-3160 for more information.

FREE Breakfast + Dozen Eggs @ Over Easy

Support St. Mary’s Food Bank Alliance on Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Over Easy is passionate about feeding hungry people. So passionate, in fact, that on Wednesday, April 20, the two yummy breakfast and lunch spots (one at the Ice Den in North Scottsdale, the other in Arcadia) promise a FREE breakfast to customers kind enough to help feed the Valley’s hungry.

On that day, both Over Easy locations (see below) will serve a free bacon & eggs breakfast (two eggs, bacon, hash browns, toast and coffee, juice or soft drink) to every customer who brings in a bag of non-perishable food items to donate to St. Mary’s Food Bank Alliance. If a family of four brings in four bags of food, they’ll all get a free breakfast. It’s that simple. Both restaurants will also accept cash donations, which will go directly to the food bank.

Although all donations, big and small, are important and happily accepted, each customer must bring in at least five food items to be eligible for one free breakfast. Given the wonderful response from customers last year, Over Easy anticipates an outpouring of generosity from its fan base.

Hickman’s Family Farms is also doing its part to help St. Mary’s by donating the day’s supply of fresh eggs to both restaurants AND by giving everyone who brings in a bag of groceries a coupon for a dozen eggs to be redeemed at most grocery stores.

Locations:

Over Easy – two Valley locations

Ice Den – North Scottsdale

9375 E. Bell Road

Scottsdale, AZ 85260

(480)270-3447

6:30 a.m. – 1 p.m.

Arcadia

4730 E. Indian School Road

Phoenix, AZ

(602)468-3447

6:30 a.m. – 2 p.m.

www.eatatovereasy.com or www.18-degrees.com

Contacts: Renee Moore, 602-920-4345, renee@reneemoorepr.com

Nikki Buchanan, 480-242-7426, nikki@wfrgroup.com

Tomorrow’s Events!! Get in Bed with Mark and 10th Annual Kids Cafe Open!

Tomorrow’s Events: Sleep America’s 5th Annual ‘Get in Bed with Mark’ race benefiting St. Mary’s AND….the 10th Annual Kids Cafe Golf Tournament with presenting sponsor Neighborhood Restaurants (Zipps Sports Grill) at the beautiful Wigwam Resort and Spa. Anyone excited? St. Mary’s is for sure! Thank you to all who are participating and have a great day!!

St. Mary’s Thanks STARBUCKS For Their Support of The 2011 Kids Cafe Open

St. Mary’s Food Bank Alliance would like to thank Starbucks Coffee for their eagle-level sponsorship of the 10th Annual Kids Cafe Open. It’s a long drive and an early first tee at the Wigwam resort on Friday, April 8 beginning at 6 a.m.  So what better way to get those pistons firing than with a delicious cup of Starbucks?

Thank you Starbucks for you continued support of feeding Arizona’s hungry children.

Pledge to Join Hunger Fast and Help Protect Low-Income Families From Budget Cuts! St. Mary’s Chairman pledges to fast today, so can you.

Today and through the month of April thousands of patriots against hunger are participating in a hunger fast to say to the nation, hunger in any form in the United States is not acceptable. The unity of our national community in this fast illustrates the fundamental American belief that our nation must be hunger free for all of its citizens.

Carol McElroy

Chairman, Board of Directors

St Mary’s Food Bank Alliance

Feeding America Hunger Fast Pledge Site

Get In Bed With Mark Countdown: Are You Ready?

Just two days until KSLX morning man Mark Mayfield climbs into his Sleep America bed for the fifth annual “Get in Bed With Mark” radio-thon to benefit St. Mary’s. Join Mark and Valley celebrities who will stop by during the three days as KSLX and Sleep America try to top last year’s total of more than 116,000 meals raised

The fun starts Wednesday morning at 6 a.m. at the Sleep America store near the Arrowhead Mall in Glendale (73rd Avenue and Bell) and moves to Tempe Marketplace on Thursday and Paradise Valley Mall for the final day – and the first annual Great Bed Race – on Friday.

Check out www.kslx.com and www.sleepamerica.com/current-promotions/sleep-america-food-drive/ for more information!

St. Mary’s Food Bank Alliance Thanks KFNN 1510 AM For Its Sponsorship Of Kids Cafe Open

St. Mary’s Food Bank Alliance would like to thank KFNN (The New Money Radio 1510 AM), for their great sponsorship of the 10th Annual Kids Cafe Open. Please be sure to turn into the “Business for Breakfast” show with Ken Morgan and Julie Dougherty as they broadcast live from the Wigwam resort on Friday, April 8 beginning at 6 a.m. Ken and Julie will interview tournament sponsors, St. Mary’s Food Bank representatives and providing all the coverage of this signature event as we raise funds for the Kids Cafe program.

The new Business for Breakfast show is more news driven with more market information. It’s fresh, fun, and guaranteed to start your business day the right way! Ken and Julie give you constant market reports, On-Demand Traffic every ten minutes, and intriguing interviews with business and market newsmakers.

Thank you KFNN – The New Money Radio 1510 AM for you continued support of feeding Arizona’s hungry children!

ASU4Food ‘Fill the Flash’ event to benefit Arizona’s hungry

April 07, 2011

7 a.m. – 4 p.m.

ASU4Food invites students, faculty, staff and the public to help combat hunger in our community and have some fun in the process by helping to fill a Flash bus with food on April 7.

Members of the community can participate in the Fill the Flash event by dropping off non-perishable food items to the Flash bus location at the northeast corner of the Memorial Union on the Tempe campus anytime from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. on April 7.

The event was organized by ASU4Food, an organization of students dedicated to combating hunger in Arizona.

“The right to a meal is a basic human right. Everyone needs to eat,” said Sam Lipman, ASU4Food vice president.

“Arizona holds the second highest poverty rate in the nation, translating to about 1 in 4 children, 1 in 7 adults, and 1 in 12 seniors going to bed hungry each night.”

This event is a “territorial food fight” in competition with the University of Arizona’s Stuff the Cat Tran event on April 6.

“We hope to trounce the Wildcats,” Lipman said. “The Territorial Food Fight is a competition between ASU and UA to raise more support for local food banks, but in the end everybody wins.”

Food donations from ASU’s Fill the Flash event will benefit St. Mary’s Food Bank that has seen an increased need for food since the recession. During the 2010-11 academic year, ASU4Food has collected 8,100 pounds of food, provided for 37,500 meals and raised $4,700 to benefit the hungry in our community through events such as Pi(e) Day, video game tournaments, Valentine’s Day candy grams and the Body Pride Fair.

Julie Newberg , julie.newberg@asu.edu

Media Relations

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