Getting seven days of emergency food into the hands of the hungry on the day requested was the founding principle behind the origin of the P V Emergency Food Bank in 1986. Thirty-three years later, the founding goal of lessening hunger of our neighbors in need remains and is true to our motto of “Neighbors Caring; Neighbors Sharing”. Located in the 32nd St. and Shea location since inception, we serve clients living within the 100 square mile area of northeast Phoenix defined by the boundaries of the Paradise Valley Unified School District.
We started as an “all-volunteer” non-profit, and are proud of the fact that we remain so today. None of our 100+ volunteers receive a salary or compensation of any kind. We are a non-denominational, non-government supported agency that relies on the goodness of our community for support via food drives, individual donations, and limited grants.
We deliver on our mission with the following programs:
Family Assists – Our standard “Emergency Food Assist Program” provides a week’s worth of basic food items with the total amount of food given adjusted for family size. Anyone with a minor child can get food assistance 8 times per year, a single person 18 or older can get four food boxes a year, and seniors (over 65) get 12 full assists. A phone call plus a photo I.D and proof of address in the PV Unified School District are all that is needed to get seven days of emergency food assistance. This past year, we served 10,598 individual assists, including 4,527 to children.
Weekend Food4Kids – Backpack Program – Provides weekend food to kids in need. Participants, identified by school Social Workers, all receive free/reduced cost breakfast and lunch Monday through Friday, but were coming to school on Mondays unable to concentrate or focus and not ready to learn. Nurses and social workers suspected hunger was a contributor and that they were probably not getting adequate food over the weekend. Our Backpack Program provides weekly food packages (containing 2 breakfasts, 2 lunches, plus snacks) for 34 weeks of the school year.
This school year, we are serving weekend food packages to 750 hungry kids for the 34 weeks of the school year.
School Nurses Program – Provides crackers/juice to Nurses at 33 Title 1 Schools to aid in the dispensing of medicine and for children who arrive at school hungry. Previously, Nurses were using their own monies for these products.
Food (or funds to buy food used) for all of these programs come from the generosity of our neighbors in the form of 1) food drives by schools, religious groups, civic groups and businesses, 2) Individual donations of food or cash, and 3) Foundation Grants for the Backpack Program.
If you would like to learn more about your 32nd Street “Neighbor”, or you would like to become a “Caring Neighbor,” visit our website (pvefb.org.). If you share our passion for helping our neighbors in need, please contact us – or better yet, gather some currently dated canned goods and bring them in – or better yet, organize a neighborhood food drive – or better yet, bring in a monetary donation (it qualifies for AZ State tax credit) – you’ll feel better for helping your neighbor in need.
