It takes a village to make sure our neighbors have enough food on the table. This summer, the community stepped up in more ways than one. For the first time in the nine-year history of our campaign, we surpassed the $1 million mark. Raising an incredible $1,224,729.40, all proceeds go towards providing nutritious food for children and families across Arizona during the summer months.
Summer of a Million Meals began nine years ago with a shared belief: every child deserves the opportunity to learn, grow, and thrive without worrying about where their next meal will come from. Since the beginning of this campaign, United Food Bank, 12News and Fry’s Food Stores have brought that belief to life, turning a simple fundraising initiative into a beloved community tradition that brings people together each summer to make a difference.
Nearly a decade later, this beloved summer tradition has only grown in scale and impact. But, so has the need.
This summer, United Food Bank and its partner agencies served an average of over 149,000 neighbors per month, representing a 20.5% increase over the same period last year. In response to this unprecedented need, United Food Bank knew that for this year’s Summer of a Million Meals, we needed to rise to the occasion by setting our most ambitious fundraising goal yet: $1 million.
Kicking off the campaign on May 14, with the help of 12News, United Food Bank hosted the first of three live telethons this summer. Each telethon built momentum and brought Summer of a Million Meals into homes across Arizona, inspiring people to get involved. Alongside the telethons, Fry’s Food Stores’ Round Up at the Register initiative made it easy for customers to make a difference.
For the first telethon, our friends at State Farm, Lerner and Rowe and Amazon stopped by, bringing together 40 eager volunteers to answer phone calls, dance and pack emergency food bags. By the time dinner time came around, they had certainly worked up an appetite! During the dinner break, Whataburger stopped by to donate burgers for volunteers, giving them the fuel they needed to recharge and finish packing bags.
This first telethon also marked our annual Food Drive Frenzy, a call to action for community food drive donations to help stock our shelves during the summer months, when food drive donations are historically low. Fry’s Food Stores stopped by with a truckload of food, alongside groups like the Girl Scouts and United Dairymen of Arizona, who donated pallets of cookies and milk for Arizona families. By the end of the day, all those contributions truly made a difference, adding up to 62,554 pounds of donated food! .
While June brought the heat, the community came in even hotter with their energy and generosity at the second telethon on June 25, thanks to the team at Fry’s Food Stores, who were seen rolling up their sleeves to pack food and had fun filming social media videos.
“Fry’s Food Stores has been a leader in the fight to end hunger in Arizona as part of our Zero Hunger | Zero Waste social impact plan,” said Ken DeLuca, President of Fry’s Food Stores. “As we partner with United Food Bank and 12News for the ninth consecutive Summer of a Million Meals campaign, we are able to remain focused on this important initiative. This effort wouldn’t be possible without the continued generosity of our customers and associates who continue to rise to the occasion every year.”
In addition to having the enthusiastic Fry’s team on site, we were also visited by Scorch from the Phoenix Mercury and Spirit from the Fiesta Bowl. They had the important job of motivating the volunteers to keep building bags, as well as creating a memorable experience for viewers at home and encouraging them to donate.
For the final telethon of the summer on July 30, we wanted to end on a high note. We started the day with a matching donation from the Accident Guys Law Group, and as the day transitioned into the evening telethon, volunteers from Resolution Copper, Pinpoint Leak, and Harrah’s Ak-Chin Casino joined us to pack emergency food bags throughout the telethon. In addition, Baxter from the Arizona Cardinals made a special appearance to help bring the summer campaign to a memorable close.
But as the evening went on, the main attraction was the donation total displayed on the big screen, inching closer and closer to $1 million. Then, finally, after about three hours of waiting, the moment we had been working toward all summer finally arrived. The total hit $1 million! As the final number appeared on the big screen, the room erupted in cheers and the ringing of cowbells was heard as we shared the news with viewers at home. This truly was a remarkable moment to be a part of. And, of course, no celebration would be complete without a dance party, led by the Golden Grannies, a group of energetic, hip-hop-dancing grannies. We couldn’t have celebrated this accomplishment any other way.
There are a lot of reasons to celebrate. Reaching this campaign milestone is more than a fundraising achievement; it’s also a testament to the community’s generosity and demonstrates that when people come together to rally around a common purpose. This is also an opportunity to recognize that hunger doesn’t take a vacation. Hunger is an all-year-round issue. This milestone gives us momentum and hope as we continue expanding our reach to serve more children and families across our service area.
For Jason Reed, President and CEO of United Food Bank, the impact is clear:
“The Summer of a Million Meals campaign plays a vital role in making sure families have consistent access to nutritious food,” shared Reed. “We are tremendously blessed because we have never hit this significant goal before. With the record need out there, we are so grateful for your support throughout this summer, as we rely on that generosity to do our work each day.”
We want to give a special shout-out to all our Summer of a Million Meals community sponsors, including: State Farm, Whataburger, Lerner and Rowe, Amazon, Resolution Copper, Harrah’s Ak-Chin Hotel and Casino, PinPoint Leak Detection and The Accident Guys Law Group. We appreciate your dedication to bettering the community.
But most importantly, we want to thank everyone who donated, tuned into a telethon, shared our mission, volunteered their time, sponsored, or encouraged others to get involved. Words can’t describe how appreciative we are of you. Your generosity is creating real change for children and families across our community.
The Summer of a Million Meals was financially assisted by The Kroger Co. and Fry’s through The Kroger Co. Zero Hunger | Zero Waste Foundation. The Kroger Co. Zero Hunger | Zero Waste Foundation is a nonprofit corporation and tax-exempt public charity under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code dedicated to finding solutions to combat the issues of food insecurity.
Communications Specialist
ifleck@unitedfoodbank.org
