There have been a lot of cool things I’ve learned about Phoenix since moving here a few years ago. Things like the environment required for cacti to grow, desert creatures, numerous events and outings, and the appreciation of 70 degree temps as cool ones. The most surprising fact is that Phoenix is the home of the world’s FIRST non-sectarian, non-profit food bank, St. Mary’s Food Bank.

Our team decided to dedicate a day and volunteer here. We arrived for a brief introduction.

Before the work begins, volunteers are given a short history of how St. Mary’s Food Bank began. As the story goes, founder John van Hengel had left a lucrative career in California. One morning, while out he found a woman digging through a dumpster for food to feed her family. The food had been thrown out because of being damaged or expired. In a short conversation, she had told him it sure would be a lot better if there was a place this food could be taken and distributed to those in need.

The idea was born. Van Hengel, being in the right place at the right time, decided that he would see that this get done. That was 1967. They started collecting edible but unsaleable food staples from local grocery stores and storing it in a St. Vincent de Paul dining room. To read more about how this one action grew to a worldwide idea, visit the history of the food bank’s influence here.

Our team from work used this  opportunity to volunteer and worked a line packing what was called emergency boxes of food. Each box contained food to sustain 2 adults for 2 to 3 days.

Each team member was to put an item in each box. In assembly fashion the boxes moved orderly down the line where they were then taped and stacked on a pallet. My item was a bag of beans …

Everyone agreed it was the best team builder we have done.

We’re looking forward to doing it again!

The poor we will always have among us, but why the hungry? — John van Hengel