United Food Bank Celebrates 40^th Anniversary

 

Since 1983, United Food Bank has been dedicated to uniting communities to alleviate hunger in Arizona. That means, 2023 was United Food Bank’s 40th anniversary of providing food and hope! As 2023 draws to a close, let’s take a look back at this milestone year and our evolution over the last four decades.

 

“This is a huge milestone for us, because our food bank’s history is deeply rooted in the East Valley when we began assisting 28 different community partners that first year, and now we’ve expanded to five counties including some of the most remote communities in Arizona,” says United Food Bank CEO, Jason Reed. Today, our reach extends across five counties including Gila County, Pinal County, Southern Apache and Navajo Counties, and Eastern Maricopa County.

 

United Food Bank works with more than 150 partner agencies throughout the state, and runs diverse programs for families, children, and seniors. These include food pantries, meal sites, after-school youth meal programs, and other efforts to alleviate food insecurity.

 

In 2023, we welcomed a new CEO, Jason Reed, and reinstated the Annual Friends Breakfast – celebrating corporate partners, the Board of Directors, donors, and volunteers. We were also thrilled that the Phoenix Business Journal recognized United Food Bank as the Top Not-for-Profit Organization of 2023.

 

For six consecutive years, United Food Bank, in partnership with 12News, conducted the Summer of a Million Meals fundraiser, raising an impressive 2,353,000 meals in 2023. As part of the 40th-anniversary celebration, special awards were presented to corporate partners and donors who contributed over a million meals in their lifetime of giving.

 

Today, the food bank’s growth can be seen in the sheer numbers and pounds of food distributed yearly. More than 21.6 million pounds of food are distributed each year which equates to approximately 50,000 meals that United Food Bank helps distribute every day.

 

“The need for food has grown tremendously over the past 40 years, and in response, we have scaled our services and outreach to meet an ever-growing demand to serve the Arizona community,” Reed says.

 

In collaboration with sponsors and partners, including the Arizona Cardinals and State Farm, United Food Bank successfully concluded two 2023 holiday food distributions in Mesa. Despite challenges, including long car waits and adverse weather, we distributed more than 3,000 meals and fixings to East Valley residents, with numerous volunteers, employees, and partners contributing to the community-wide event.

 

“We had dozens of volunteers, employees and partners help distribute food this year, and the people who handed out the food were just as grateful as those who received it to be a part of such an amazing event,” says Taylor Loomis, Director of Federal Food Programs.

 

United Food Bank celebrated its 40th anniversary Dec. 15 at a big, employee appreciation party at its volunteer center in Mesa. Employees shared in loads of games and prizes, a baking competition, food and tons of fun, but mostly the spirit of celebrating another year of growing, giving back and gearing up to do it all over again in 2024!