Profile: Food Resourcing

I thought it might be interesting to offer profiles on different departments of the food bank and explain what they do and how they go about within their areas of responsibility. Our three most critical resources for the food bank are the volunteers that support us, the financial donations we receive from the community and the food donations we receive from the community. Food comes to us in a couple of different ways. Community food drives are one way, but the majority of the food that we receive comes from our partners in the food industry. We have three staff members at the food bank – Sharon, Erin and Hortencia – in the Food Resourcing Department who work very closely with our food industry donor partners. They work with distribution centers, retail outlets, food manufacturers, growers and farmers and their goal is to ensure that no food that is still consumable goes to waste. Sharon’s, Erin’s and Hortencia’s network of connections helps keep the shelves full of donated food at the food bank and has enabled us over the years to never have to turn an agency or family away because of inadequate supplies. If you think about it, they have an incredible responsibility to locate close to 60 million pounds of food in a year’s time. That, my friends, represents more than 1,500 truckloads of donated food on an annual basis. If you are aware of any opportunity for food donations, please don’t hesitate to contact any of our food bank locations, or Sharon, Erin and Hortencia of St. Mary’s/Westside Food Bank Alliance! Thank you Sharon, Erin and Hortencia and thank you Arizona!