Donna Gillen
’Tis the season to give of ourselves to help others in need. The PebbleCreek Tennis Club will once again hold their St. Mary’s Food Drive starting Nov. 1, culminating with our Men’s and Women’s Tournament on Nov. 19.
Last year the club made a generous donation of canned goods to the food bank. This year, as many of you know, the need is even greater than ever. High prices at the pump and the grocery has really hurt many of our neighbors in the West Valley. Giving from our hearts will be a Godsend to many people with these upcoming holidays in the next two months. Our goal is to exceed last year’s donation of over 400 pounds of canned items. We know that with enough generous souls in PebbleCreek, we can easily increase this desperate donation.
After reaching out to John Drake at St. Mary’s Food Bank (SMFB), the following facts were given with regard to this year’s unique needs from the community here in Maricopa County:
* In August 2022, St. Mary’s Food Bank saw one of the highest months of need in its 55 year history helping serve 150,000 families.
* At our two distribution centers in Phoenix and Surprise we saw an average of 1,169 clients per day.
* 18% of the clients who came to SMFB distribution were new clients
* So far in September we are seeing approximately a 6% increase from August.
Mr. Drake also has forwarded a list of their most needed items at this time. They are as follows:
Canned products of fruit, soup, protein, and vegetables; rice and beans; cereal; pasta; and finally, peanut butter. An additional request has also gone out for volunteers to help pack food boxes.
PebbleCreek, we can do our part to help those in need. Please drop off your food donation to either of the Sports Complex buildings by the tennis courts at Tuscany Falls or Eagle’s Nest. There will be boxes available for you to place your donations starting in November. Thank you for your generosity and your personal involvement in making this world a better place one “can” at a time.
St. Mary’s Food Bank Alliance is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization depending only on our generosity to survive. St. Mary’s Food Bank is a qualifying charity of the Arizona Charitable Tax Credit—Qualifying Charitable Organization Code 20208.