Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust Grant to United Food Bank Dramatically Increases Volunteer Opportunities and Emergency Food Distribution
Mesa, Ariz. (March 29, 2019) – The Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust has awarded United Food Bank (UFB) a $179,500 grant to accomplish much-needed improvements to its Javelina Volunteer Annex.
The Javelina site serves as United Food Bank’s primary volunteer location and also hosts United Food Bank’s weekly Help Yourself food cooperative. The Piper grant provides funds to:
- Install twelve split phase air conditioning units to this warehouse space that currently is not equipped with any cooling system;
- Renovate the Help Yourself waiting area;
- Add a new staff position to United Food Bank’s Volunteer Department to focus on added volunteer recruitment and an improved volunteer experience.
Last fiscal year, more than 2,000 volunteers donated 25,370 hours of their time to United Food Bank, sorting 1 million pounds of food donations and packing 18,000 Emergency Food Boxes. With the physical improvements and staff addition made possible by the Piper grant, United Food Bank anticipates engaging 11,500 volunteers per year to build 420,000 Emergency Food Boxes for its 220 partner agencies.
“This Piper Trust grant is a ‘game-changer’ for our organization,” said United Food Bank President and CEO Dave Richins. “We’re confident that being able to provide a temperature-controlled volunteer environment will allow us to accommodate significantly more volunteers, offer our Help Yourself clients an improved shopping experience, and better serve people throughout our service area who need food assistance,”
About United Food Bank: United Food Bank celebrates 35 years as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that provides hunger relief to people in need in the East Valley and eastern Arizona. We collect, acquire, store and distribute food and related commodities to more than 220 partner agencies that serve more than 228,000 people in need across more than 19,500 square miles. Last year, United Food Bank distributed almost 24 million pounds of food providing nearly 19.5 million meals to our neighbors in need.
About Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust: Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust supports organizations that enrich health, well-being, and opportunity for the people of Maricopa County, Arizona. Since it began awarding grants in 2000, Piper Trust has invested more than $429 million in local nonprofits and programs. Piper Trust grantmaking areas are healthcare and medical research, children, older adults, arts and culture, education, and religious organizations. For more information, visit pipertrust.org. Follow us on Twitter @PiperTrust; visit us on Facebook.
