May 2025 Cap Meeting

Merilee Baptiste from Midwest Food Bank and Mandy Hodges from United Food Bank joined the Community Action Partnership meeting on May 13 to talk about the issues of food insecurity in our community and across the state.

One in 8 people in Arizona are food insecure, with expectations for these stats to fall to 1 in 7; 1 in 5 are kids, 1 in 10 are seniors. What makes these statistics even more alarming is that AZ is first in food waste in the country. 

It’s not just homeless people or low income families experiencing hunger; it’s also college students, particularly foreign students, moderate income families and people who are suddenly facing big medical bills, or grandparents suddenly caring for grandchildren. In addition, people have to make impossible choices between food and medical care, school costs, or utilities.

Midwest Food bank, which serves the western portion of the area, works with 280+ partner agencies and distributes about $1M in food each week. The challenge is in accessing available food and transporting it to areas that are not central.

United Food Bank is part of the Feeding America network locally, and serves the East Valley. Key is that about ⅓ is fresh produce so it’s also about getting the right food into the hands of those who need it. It’s likely you have participated in any of their programs, whether it’s a food pantry donation or assistance in assembling food bags at their sites.

Fortunately, volunteers are plenty for both organizations and if you don’t have the time, helping is simple and can be as impactful as a box of cereal, which can provide at least 4 meals. And through the economy and leverage of bulk purchasing, $1 can be multiplied into as much as $47 to buy food. The City of Mesa also just kicked off its hydration campaign to help the vulnerable during the triple digit heat that is upon us. 

Summary provided by Denise Konkol.