On May 2nd, there will be an official grand opening of the Valley View Food Bank at the Valley View Food Bank at 10:00AM. There will be hotdogs, chips, drinks and live music. Everybody is more than welcome to come so bring your friends and family!
Liz Taylor ♥
There was another produce drop on Saturday, March 14 at our new storage/office building in Surprise. We got a new shipment of fresh tomatoes and bright chilies. Also we are in the process of raising enough money to buy a cooler for the storage. Contact me at TaylorLane1113@aol.com if you are interested in helping. Thanks to Jesse for all his hard work.
Liz Taylor ♥
During the past few weeks, our Executive Director from Borderland Food Bank Yolanda Soto, worked feverishly to find homes for rescued Roma and regular tomatoes, orange bell peppers and European cucumbers. In one of her daily offerings, there were mixtures of these produce weighing over 200,000 pounds!
According to Yolanda Soto, Executive Director of Borderland Food Bank, in January and February, Borderland was saturated with rescued tomatoes. It became extremely difficult to find these tomatoes homes and they had to end up dumping at least 50 percent of them.
In Arizona, the only food banks that accepted tomatoes were St. Mary’s Alliance, Wilcox, Northern Arizona Food Bank and our newest agency, Valley View Food Bank in Surprise. There were different types of tomatoes: beef, vine ripe, house, cherry, grape, Roma and regular. Borderland did a lot of repacking for three weeks in January, until it started receiving 90% good product. The saturation of tomatoes was due to a reduction in the market price of tomatoes. Thanks to Yolanda Soto for all her hard work.
Liz Taylor ♥
Jodie Wilson, our Produce Outreach Ambassador, has coordinated the distribution of 24 pallets (about 36,000 lbs ) of produce with the Valley View Community Food Bank located at 11115 W. Nevada Avenue (111th Ave and Nevada) in Youngtown this Saturday, January 31. The truck will make the drop at 7:00 a.m. with the pick up time at 10:00 a.m.. Please show up at the location above if you wish to volunteer.
We thank Jodie for successfully finding sponsors - Valley View Community Food Bank, 5 Iglesia Apostolica De La Fe En Cristo Jesus Churches in the West Valley and A Group Called 39 and Holding - for these pallets which we are able to transport to Youngtown for only $15 per pallet. Just imagine $15 can cover the transportation cost to rescue and distribute 1,500 lbs of produce to hundreds of hungry families!
We hope to continue this outreach on a regular basis. If you or know of anyone who might be interested in sponsoring a pallet or several pallets, please contact Jodie at jwilson78@cox.net.
“Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his
harvest field (Matt. 9:38).”
Times like these are very impressionable in the minds of most people. It’s easy to lose hope in things when so many people are losing their jobs and some families are not as well off as they once were. Then there are others who take times like these to seek opporunity. Our small church group went to the food bank in Flagstaff to pack up boxes full of food to be distributed to those who are in need of it in these trying times. For some in the group, it was their first time to ever take part in an event like this. To them, they were simply giving of themselves for the benefit of another. And to all, they were caught up in the spirit of things; just happy and blessed to be a blessing.
Upon reaching the food bank, I could feel the anticipation among the members of Word of Victory church. Willingness had brought them there, and the workers had indeed come to the field. The assembly line had formed and fucntioned as smooth and beautifully full of grace as a symphony with its many members working as one. Two stood at a white folding table making boxes to pass down the line to be filled with dry cereals, juices, canned fruits and veggies, and other treats.
Personally, it was very similar to the work that I do every day of the week, but here the payout was much greater than money (”Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven… -Matt. 5:12). It was also a time for God to work mightily in the midst of His people. In doing things like this, God can bring His people closer together in fellowship and worship. “For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them (Matt. 18:20).” Truly, we were gathered in His name. We were there to do His work; to be His hands and feet. I dare to say that one of the most important things to remember about the holidays is that it is the season (an appointed season) to give.
Mark Hill (Northern Arizona Food Bank, Flagstaff)