Merger integration update

I have seen a flurry of activity since the merger occurred on September 1st focused on integration of the systems and processes of the food banks. The entire staff has done an incredible job working to make sure we are taking advantage of the resources we now have available to help deliver more food to more people. Integrating two organizations is never an easy task but I am very proud to say we are three weeks into the process with no major set backs which have caused disruptions to our ability to distribute food into the community. We are even beginning to see the early signs of some of the benefits of merging the two food banks. Our procurement team was able to save almost $50,000 on the purchase of a truck load of fruit cups for our Kids Café program versus what had been paid in the past. That savings ultimately equates to the ability for us to distribute an additional 350,000 meals worth of food into the community.

This kind of change requires extra effort and every department has put in the extra hours to insure as smooth a transition as possible. It never ceases to amaze me how folks step up when called upon for something extra and we certainly have a very special group of dedicated people working at the food bank. Everyone seems to be adapting well in our ever changing environment. Communication and flexibility will continue to be the keys to our success as we move forward.

Isaac Preschool Back Pack Distribution
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Isaac Preschool Distribution

Today we had the opportunity to be involved with a very special distribution of food and school supplies. Isaac Preschool in central Phoenix has approximately 300 students, mostly 4-5 years of age. Their program is very unique in that the parents of the children are required to attend school with them. While the parents participate in parenting classes which teaches them how to develop their children socially and academically, the kids are in classes focused on helping them learn social skills basic math, reading and motor skills while picking up English as a second language.

At our inaugural Board of Director’s meeting, on August 29th, for the St Mary’s/Westside Food bank Alliance the board assembled 200 back packs loaded with food and school supplies. The Sara Lee distribution center in Tolleson loaded up an additional 100 back packs so we would have enough to be able to give one to each child. We then had the opportunity to hand out the back packs to the children at the school. It was a very special experience….the smiles , the soft and shy thank yous, the high fives, even the concerned looks from some who were not sure about accepting this massive back pack from a stranger. The teachers reassured the kids that it was okay but some still didn’t understand. For some the back packs weighed almost as much as they did which created some awkward initial steps once we put the packs on their backs. One little guy did lose his balance and ended up falling backwards due to the weight of the pack. It was a great event shared by our board, representatives from Sara Lee and members of the food bank staff. What better way to demonstrate the core mission of the food bank than to make food available to children.

Volunteers come through in BIG WAY!

Last Saturday was an incredible day at the food bank. We are not sure as of yet (still checking old reports) if it is a record or not, but it really doesn't matter…..it was absolutely amazing! We had 354 individuals from the community volunteer at our 31st Avenue Food Bank contributing a whopping 1,276 hours of their time to help St Mary’s/Westside Food Bank sort food, pack boxes and bag produce. The food bank staff worked hard to make sure every volunteer walked away feeling good about the time they spent on site.

Thanks to all 354 of you from the community for making a difference and thanks to our team at the food bank for coordinating such an army of volunteers.

Our role as food bankers

Below is a note we recently received from a donor. My hope is that today anyone who comes to us in need is not questioned or made to feel guilty in any way…. but greeted with a warm smile, a friendly voice and treated with the utmost dignity. There is nothing harder for anyone to do than ask for help…. our role is not to judge, but to supply food and assist the individual or family make a connection with one of our 900 partner agencies who can direct them through a difficult time.

Just a quick note to accompany my small check:

Thirty years ago, when I was very young, going through a divorce, and carrying a 6-month old child on my hip, I was directed to a small “shed” that had a small sign on it, reading “St. Mary’s Food Bank. It was late evening, and I didn’t think anybody would answer the door across from the “bank”, but I knocked.

I was not asked to fill out an application – I am not certain that was protocol back then. The woman gave me a stern look, causing me guilt, but I was needing food for my little boy.

Although I had a decent education, when I decided to leave a miserable marriage, my husband told me I could simply do it alone. I had used up the food in the cabinets and didn’t know what to do. I had been in Phoenix about two years, had stayed home to take care of my baby and trusted nobody enough to return to work…but having been in the secretarial field, I didn’t even have the clothing to go on interviews if I DID have a babysitter. I was scared and alone. I didn’t know what else to do except just get food for my child and myself and worry about the details later.

I was under the impression the woman at the food bank didn’t believe me. I didn’t know why I gave her that impression, but I was so grateful she decided to help me – when she opened the door to that small building, I saw shelves of bread, canned goods, and a cooler that held milk, meat and cheese.

I was given a little bit of everything, including peanut butter – something I grew to really enjoy! It was a fast way to fill up. That woman didn’t turn me away. She helped me against her suspicions.

As I walked away from that food bank, I recall whispering into my son’s ear that one day we will pay that food back for their kindness.

I needed help several times over the following two years, although I never went back to St. Mary’s. I felt too guilty to ask for more- that woman was already too generous. I received help from the Salvation Army and eventually received food stamps after spending the night in a long line in order to get in the door with the first group of people.

Today my son has his own beautiful family…he makes me proud of the way he loves and provides for his family. I also have a daughter now, after finding my new husband, who makes a wonderful grandpa!

This is the first time I include a note with my contribution, and it isn’t all that large because I divide my amount among four organizations – most of which deal with helping families and children. I especially give back to those who helped me get through two difficult years of my life.

I have my own plan for people on the street, too. I never give to those who “advertise” on street corners, but when I am approached (which is more often than you might know), I NEVER turn anyone away. Even if I DOUBT that person, I still give. If that woman turned me away that night simply because she doubted my sincerity, I don’t know what I would have done. ONE action could have turned me homeless…it could have and might have made the difference.

I am certain there are thousands of stories like mine – and are worse; I just wanted to tell mine – just in case you ever doubt some of the people…just in case there ARE some people who just want handouts...to tell you – eventually there will be a person who is sincere...and you will make a difference that you will never realize.

God Bless all of you.

Sincerely,
RS

Update on Disaster Relief Efforts

We continue to be a part of the disaster relief effort both on a local and national basis.

Yesterday afternoon, a forty foot St Mary’s/Westside tractor trailer full of Granola Bars, Gatorade, feminine hygiene products, Nutri-Grain Bars, Trail mix and clam chowder left our docks headed for one of our sister food banks distribution sites in Baker, Louisiana. This location will then be a staging point for distributing the food through agencies in the area to those impacted by hurricane Katrina. This represents our second load of food and supplies sent into the gulf region. We are in close contact with the logistics team of America’s Second Harvest on a daily basis who is coordinating all inbound supplies into the area. I would expect we will be sending additional items as we have them available and ASH releases them into the impacted states. The driver who is taking this shipment is an employee of the Arizona Gleaning Project and could possibly be gone for a number of weeks. The ASH logistics team will use Larry and our equipment to help move additional loads into the areas where they are needed.

On a local basis, we continue to work very closely with the relief efforts at the Veterans Coliseum. Since last Saturday, we have delivered 4 shipments of items to the site for use by the Salvation Army and Red Cross in preparing meals for the evacuees being served on site. Beginning on Tuesday of this past week, we also began lending kitchen expertise to the Salvation Army to assist in food preparation. On a daily basis, four of our students from our Community Kitchen program have been assisting in the kitchen operation and meal preparation. Community Kitchen is a 14 week foodservice skills training program run by St Mary’s/Westside Food Bank Alliance. To learn more about Community Kitchen visit our website at http://www.firstfoodbank.org/ and look under the “Programs” tab at the top of the page. The students have personally told me it is a wonderful experience for them and one they look forward to being a part of as long as they are needed.

Volunteer Letter

Below is a letter we recently received from one of our amazing volunteers at our Westside-Surprise distribution center. As you can see by her note Volunteerism is not just about doing something for someone else but it is also about the personal enrichment one gets by contributing. Last year volunteers contributed over 300,000 hours to St Mary’s/Westside Food Bank Alliance….we could not serve the community to the level we do without them…..

Dear Pat:

As you know I’ve been working on Friday afternoons doing different things: making sandwiches in Kid’s Café, packing in the cannery, filling boxes in the pantry or sorting on the line. Over time I’ve increased my understanding of the broad range of services Westside provides and really been impressed by how much it does.

When the Newsletter asked for summer help at the front desk I was happy to fill in for an afternoon a week. Now I’m aware more than ever of the extent of the need and the wide range of personal calamities that Westside responds to. We have people coming with referrals from agencies all over the area. In the brief time I’ve been at the desk, I’ve seen grandmothers who suddenly find themselves feeding five grandchildren, people in company uniforms whose part time jobs qualify them for food stamps, mothers with infants trying to manage on their own.

Some people have just been laid off because of a reorg. They are stunned, but energetic, lining up interviews, hopeful, just needing a brief boost. Others have been without income for a long time; they have few personal resources, little or no training and by now have an air of defeat, almost hopelessness. They are very grateful for the badly needed help.

This experience has made the packing, stacking, and sorting take on new meaning for me. Before it was more generic, perhaps even distant. But now I’m much more aware that the need is immediate, very personal, and has a face.

Thanks for the chance to volunteer!

Pat Dyer
Sun City

Food Delivery to Katrina Evacuees at Coliseum
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Katrina Evacuees arrive in Arizona

The State Emergency Operations Center was activated on Saturday for Operation Good Neighbor to bring all the resources together to create a temporary shelter for the Katrina Hurricane evacuees who will be coming to AZ. The primary purpose of Operation Good Neighbor is to provide a safe, secure and welcoming environment for the evacuees who are coming to AZ. The Mass Care Annex was activated with the American Red Cross taking the lead. They have worked with the AZ Dept. of Emergency Management to set up the shelter at Veteran's Coliseum at the AZ State Fairgrounds to host 1,000 Katrina Evacuees. This location is not meant to be a permanent housing location, but rather a pass thru location to get folks to more permanent shelter - apartments, rental housing, etc. There are plans for some of the people to be transported to Tucson - where the local community has already begun setting up shelter in the convention center. But for the time being, all evacuees will come thru the Veteran's Coliseum where cots, blankets, personal hygiene kits, mental health teams, food, and much, much more has all been put in place today in preparation for the Evacuees to arrive late Sunday morning. The Red Cross will also provide clothing for the Evacuees, if they need and desire it. Free phone banks and computer access has been set up in the Coliseum for the evacuees to use to contact relatives and search for relatives who have been displaced by the disaster.

The Donations Management Team consisting of Arizona Dept. of Emergency Management, The Salvation Army, the American Red Cross and the AZVOAD was activated. Norm Gold, our Director of Operations and Programs and a member of the disaster response team for AZVOAD initially made arrangements to deliver two truckloads of donated food and beverages from St. Mary's/Westside Food Bank Alliance to cover the first day of beverages, snacks and breakfast for shelter residents. We will be working closely with the agencies at the Coliseum to determine future needs.

Incredible Response to our Roof Collapse

When I am out meeting new people, I tell them where I work. Something interesting, almost magical happens then, and it happens almost every time I mention my employer.

“Oh, St. Mary’s…” they exclaim, their voice drifting off to a better, kinder place, their face expressing a benevolent glow.

Those of us lucky enough to work for St. Mary’s/Westside Food Bank Alliance know the “O-St.-Mary’s…. Factor,” it happens often enough. Even though many people don’t know exactly what we do, they know we do “good things.” They know we have a positive impact on the community – providing food to those in need. They know we help people who need the help… and that food banking is a good cause. The way I see it, the community supports the Food Bank so we, [those lucky enough to work here] will support the community in our own way – by sending food out the door every day – to hundreds of agencies that help people in desperate situations… those agencies provide a lot of services to their clients and food bank makes “food” one less thing for them to worry about.

There’s another similar reaction - the “Wow Factor.” This occurs when a new friend visits one of our food banks in the Alliance network. They take a short walk out into the warehouse – look around, look up and look back at me. “Wow,” they murmur… “I had no idea it was so big.”

Just over three weeks ago, people reacted again – with a “wow,” but their voices had a different tone. Two gaping holes appeared in the roof at our facility on 31st Avenue– rain damage, a fallen roof, landing on a sprinkler… water cascading in flooding the floor of the warehouse, offices, the coolers & freezers. A few dedicated souls spent the night trying to quell the damage. With dawns’ light, many more staff and volunteers with buckets & mops started the clean-up. News helicopters hovered overhead. Reporters descended. Stories broke – and the phone started ringing. “How can I help?” So many people responded, in so many ways. Contractors, roofers, builders arrived. People dropped off checks. People volunteered to help.

Things are better now, the roof is patched. The clean up is over. We’re still assessing the damage. But the most amazing thing? …The response from the community. We’re known for doing “good things,” but so many of you, our friends, our neighbors, rushed to help the Food Bank – so we could get back into business as quickly as possible – to do more “good things.” This time, it was me who said “Wow.”

Thank you, Arizona, for responding so quickly and in such a caring way. Now you know why I am lucky – I have the “O-St.-Mary’s….. Factor” working for me every day.

Disaster Relief

I have had many calls asking about our involvement in lending disaster relief support to the gulf coast areas affected by hurricane Katrina. We are responding to the situation through America’s Second Harvest which is the national network of food banks all across the country. 10 of our sister food banks were initially closed by the storm. A number of them have reopened, a couple of others are trying to relocate and one located in Gulfport has not been heard from as of yet. ASH is coordinating the logistics of all non-perishable food and non food items. Soon after the storm hit the word went out to all the network food banks asking us about the immediate availability of a specific list of items. We were asked to hold in reserve as much of those items as we could and wait for further instructions. ASH is working closely with FEMA and the Red Cross to begin to move the available items to distribution points in the impacted areas.

We sent out our first partial load of 17 pallets of personal hygiene items, juice, paper products and snack food items to Louisiana on August 31st. If you would like to hold a food drive please zero in on collecting bottled water, single-service snacks (pop tarts, cereal bars & peanut butter), heat and eat foods (chili, stew, canned pasta, canned fruits and vegetables), paper products (plates, cups, diapers and tissues) cleaning supplies (bleach and multi-purpose cleaners). We will set them aside in our warehouse for future requests from the region. Please contact Ann Margherita at extension 162 at our offices if you want to run a food drive.