Virginia Piper Charitable Trust

We were notified this week by the Virginia Piper Charitable Trust that our recent grant request had been approved. Susan Combe, our Development Officer who writes the majority of St Mary's grant applications, began working on this opportunity months ago. Based on growth in our retail store food rescue routes, we were in need of more refrigerated trucks. Since the early fall we have been renting equipment to be able to make pick ups at all of the new retail grocery store locations in our area. When we approached individuals at Piper Trust, they recommended we coordinate our grant proposal with our sister food banks in in the Phoenix area. Susan then worked with folks from Westside and United Food Banks to determine their needs so we could submit a joint grant request. Piper Trust saw our collaborative effort as a positive one and awarded the three of us $225,000 to purchase much needed trucks and forklifts for our facilities. This grant will enable us at St Mary's to purchase two trucks for the retail store routes and a forklift for our warehouse.

Thanks to the generous support of organizations like the Virginia Piper Charitable Trust, St Mary's continues to be able to serve the growing needs of the hungry in our community.