Saturday, Feb.14
To benefit the Community Food Bank & The Animal League of Green Valley
For more details click here or call 399-2314
* Dogs invited to participate in the 2k Fun Walk

Three generations of one Arizona family have stepped forward to serve the hungry of Tucson.

In December 2008, 94 year-old Jesse Chatham joined her granddaughter, Eileen Starace to assemble Snak Paks for the Community Food Bank.  Starace is a member of the Desert Skies United Methodist Church, one the Food Bank’s partners in the Snak Paks program.  Chatham and Starace are respectively the mother and daughter of Margaret Steele, a longstanding Community Food Bank board member who passed away in 2006.  Eileen is her daughter.

Through their actions, these three women have demonstrated a passion for helping the Community Food Bank and the vulnerable children it serves in Tucson.

The Snak Paks program works with community partners like the Desert Skies United Methodist Church to feed children who are identified as chronically hungry.  Every Friday, these children go home with a back pack full of healthy snacks to see them through the weekend. The process is repeated each week through the school year. Currently, over 600 children receive a Snak Pak.

Many of our fellow Tucsonans face the very real threat of going hungry not only during the holiday season, but throughout the year. The Community Food Bank relies on volunteers like Jesse Chatham, Margaret Steele and Eileen Starace.  The food bank’s volunteers contribute over 84,000 hours of service annually, the equivalent of 40 full time employees.

The Tucson Girls Chorus will team up with Daisy Mae’s Steak House on Saturday, January 17, 2009 to benefit the Community Food Bank.

For many years patrons of Daisy Mae’s have stapled dollar bills, with personal notes, to the walls of the steakhouse.  In 2001, after 9/11, local firefighters removed bills from the walls and sent over $7,000 to the New York Fire Department.

Dan Brady and his staff at Daisy Mae’s have donated the collection of bills to the Community Food Bank and with the help of the Tucson Girls Chorus will retrieve the bills from the walls on Saturday, January 17th beginning at 2:00 PM.  Daisy Mae’s Steak House is located at 2735 W. Anklam Road.

For every $1 donated, the food bank can distribute $9 worth of food.  If the public would like to support this event with a donation, they may call Daisy Mae’s at (520) 792-8888.

“The Tucson Girls Chorus is proud to help make this donation to the Community Food Bank,” said Beth Walkup, Interim Executive Director of the Tucson Girls Chorus.  “In addition to the music experience, community involvement is an important part of the mission of the Girls Chorus.  We appreciate the help from Dan Brady and his staff at Daisy Mae’s.”

The Tucson Girls Chorus will be assisted by volunteers from Davis Monthan Air Force Base.

For additional information, contact Jack Parris at (520) 622-0525 x 215 or Cell at (520) 444-5412.

The Tucson Inauguration Ball to be held on Monday, January 19, 2009 will celebrate the inauguration of Barack Obama and benefit the Community Food Bank.

The Inauguration Ball will be held at the Viscount Suites Hotel at 4855 E. Broadway from 6:00 PM until Midnight.  Entry price is $15.00 per person or free with two cans of non-perishable food for the Community Food Bank.

The evening activities will include a raffle, Tucson Obama slideshow, music, food and dancing.  A cash bar will be available. Black and White attire is suggested.

To make reservations, contact “Sarah” at (520) 358-8565.

Donations to the Community Food Bank are needed now more than ever as the demand for food assistance continues to increase in Southern Arizona.

For more information, contact Sarah Robinson at (520) 358-8565.

Members of the “HiFlalutin Red Hatters” and the “Red Hot Flashes” will present Bill Carnegie, President/CEO of the Community Food Bank with a check for over $1,800 that represents the net proceeds from their sold out performance at the Gaslight Theatre on Sunday, January 11, 2009.  The performance begins at 7:00 PM and is entitled “The Ballad of Two-Gun McGraw (or “Just Horsing Around”).

Although the performance is sold out, the “HiFlalutin Red Hatters” and Red Hot Flashes” invite the public to drop off donations of non-perishable food items before the production at 7:00 PM.  A Community Food Bank truck will in the parking lot of the Gaslight Theatre to receive food donations.

Due to the unprecedented increase in requests for Family Food Boxes, the Community Food Bank (CFB) will begin distributing one food box per household per month in January, 2009.

The current economic downturn in Pima County has increased the number of families asking for food help dramatically and maximized the number of Family Food Boxes that the Community Food Bank can produce.  From January 1 though November 30, 2008 the Food Bank distributed over 180,000 family food boxes.  That is a 36% increase over the same period in 2007.  The CFB is 46% over budget in purchased food for fiscal year 2007/2008.  The Food Bank anticipates that the requests for help will continue through next year.

Families may pick up their one food box per month at the Community Food Bank, 3003 S. Country Club Road on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays and at other sites around Pima County, including selected Tucson Parks and Recreations sites. Produce and bread also will be available at those sites.  Information about the location of distribution sites, days and times of distribution will be available soon on the Community Food Bank website.

Families requiring more than one food box per month will be referred to the CFB family advocate to determine what other help may be available.

“The Community Food Bank regrets that we are forced to reduce the number of Family Food Boxes available each month,” said Bill Carnegie, President/CEO.  “These are difficult times for everyone and we hope this change will be temporary and that we can return to our former schedule of distribution in the near future.

For more information, contact Jack Parris at (520) 622-0525 x 215 or by Cell at (520) 444-5412.

Jim Campbell, President of Qwest Arizona will visit the Community Food Bank in Tucson on Wednesday, December 24, 2008 to present the organization with a donation of $25,000.  The presentation will take place 1:30 PM at the Community Food Bank, 3003 S. Country Club Road.

Qwest and Qwest Pioneers have been organizing food drive donations for the Food Bank for more than 25 years.  Qwest Pioneers have also volunteered time and made monetary donations in the early spring when holiday giving typically falls off, but the need remains high.

“As we head into the holiday season, the Qwest Foundation is pleased to contribute to the Community Food Bank as they work tirelessly to assist those in need,” said Jim Campbell, President of Qwest Arizona.  “According to Feeding America, one in eight Americans does not always know where their next meal will come from.  The Community Food Bank is experiencing a 36% increase in demand for food assistance over one year ago.  Qwest is honored and humbled to assist in any way we can.”

The Qwest Foundation’s core principle is that investing in people and communities provides lasting value for the future.  The Qwest Foundation awards grants to community-based programs that generate high-impact and measurable results, focusing on pre-K through grade 12 education.

For more information, contact Mark Molzen at (602) 630-8224 or Jack Parris at (520) 622-0525 x 215

The Diamond Foundation is challenging the Southern Arizona community to match its Diamond Winter Challenge to the Community Food Bank to raise funds for the Agency Market program.  The Diamond Foundation provided an initial $20,000 and a private benefactor added an additional $15,000 to the challenge.  The $35,000 challenge grant will run through March 31, 2009.

The Food Bank’s Agency Market provides food and non-food products for the use of over 300 local charities in Southern Arizona.  The Agency Market distributes nearly 6-million pounds of donated food each year, assisting almost 200,000 people.

This Diamond Winter Challenge $35,000 grant is designed to be matched by corporate, foundation and individual donors, during this current economic downturn and the Community Food Bank’s continuing needs after the holidays.

“This is a “call to action” to our community to help us match the Diamond Winter Challenge,” said Bill Carnegie, Community Food Bank President/CEO. “We greatly appreciate the Diamond Foundation’s challenge during these difficult times and look forward to the community’s positive response.”

For more information about the Diamond Winter Challenge contact Pauline Hechler, Community Food Bank Vice President of Development at (520) 622-0525 x 234 or by cell phone at (520) 668-8208

2448 E Broadway Blvd.
Tucson, AZ 85719
520-622-1022

A message from Jimmy’s:

We believe in giving back the community that has been so good to us for over 50 years. We feel this is a small way in which we can give back and say thank you to all that support us. We have the greatest customers in Tucson and they are always looking for ways to help our community as well. We realize that the need for food never ends and that is why we want to be a year round drop off and donation center.

Along with our year round donation site we are also proud to announce a virtual food drive you can donate to here:

So the staff at Jimmy’s Broadway Automotive and our families want to say thank you for your support of the Community Food Bank!

Sincerely,

Dave and Phyllis Shinkel

Community Food Bank leader gets a big thank-you, just in time for Thanksgiving

Bill Carnegie, president and CEO of the Community Food Bank and this year’s winning “Good Guy,” has been selected by the community and a panel of local judges to receive a $20,000 office remodel from Goodmans Interior Structures.

His new office was unveiled on Friday, Nov. 21, just in time for one of the food bank’s busiest times of year: Thanksgiving.

Bill Carnegie has led the Community Food Bank for more than three years. As a leader who runs the organization as though it were a for-profit business, Carnegie knows that sound financial decisions and openness to public scrutiny are key to his organization’s success. The results-driven organization reviews its mission annually and constantly seeks opportunities to expand its role in the community. Stressing the importance of staff contributions, Carnegie supports employee recognition and involves staff in management decisions and strategic planning. He recognizes that his staff’s interactions with the community reflect on the organization and considers it his job to ensure that managers are able to support staff.

The Goodmans Eye for the Good Guy contest launched in March with a call for public nominations to find the most dedicated and effective leader of a Pima County 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Carnegie, one of ten finalists, was selected through a combination of online public voting (approximately 23,000 votes cast) and assessment by a panel of local judges.

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