According to the City of Phoenix, there are 43 food deserts in the city. This accounts for 75% of the total number of food deserts in Maricopa County. By 2050, the city wants to eliminate food deserts to create a sustainable, healthy local food system– leading to a reduction of obesity and diet-related diseases. 

Numerous food banks support low-income individuals throughout the Valley. One food bank serving the Glendale community is the Phoenix Rescue Mission’s Hope for Hunger Food Bank. 

The bank serves about 150-200 households daily with help from St. Mary’s Food Bank. They build produce boxes, pack weekly non-perishable bags for the homeless and interact with community members directly. 

Hope for Hunger operates a program called Client Choice which allows individuals and families to have a unique shopping experience. Clients use an empty cart and go throughout the warehouse picking out food with the help of volunteers. Ben Tong, the food bank coordinator, encourages anyone to come out and volunteer.

“We are run 99% by volunteers here. Come out and see what people are like and hear their stories,” Tong said. “And if you don't come out to Glendale or Phoenix, you don't see the poverty. You don't see the dire situation that a lot of people are living in and just trying to survive in.” 

Michelle Morrison has been a volunteer for three years, but before that, she was a client in need of food. After trying to “come out of a bad state of mind,” she wanted to volunteer to give back to the place that helped her. 

Morrison is a volunteer that goes full steam ahead and does it all. Her mornings start at a quarter to six to open up the food bank for the St. Mary’s truck that delivers items. The boxes are unloaded and organized. At 8 AM, everything is ready for clients to come in. Morrison greets clients, checks them in, finds out how many people are in their family, and gets to know their situations.

“I love working with people and little kids. Just giving them a little extra, like a pack of cookies or extra candy, and seeing their little faces light up,” Morrison said. “I just like working with people and just putting a smile on their face because I love to smile. I just think that just makes me feel good about myself too.”

Richard Watts, another Hope for Hunger volunteer,  worked with the food bank for years, but everything changed when he decided to buy a truck. He started to pick up extra, unused produce and food from the bank and give it to the people he knew needed it the most. 

“If they have a surplus, they'll call me. It's better to put it on someone's table than to have it thrown away or go to waste,” said Watts. 

He travels to parks that many homeless people live in, along with apartments with needy families to build rapport with the community. Watts has engaged the community in countless ways but is often reminded that it is better to give than to receive. 

“I have come to the conclusion that when you give unconditionally with no ulterior motive but just to help an individual, you purify your heart just a little bit more,” Watts said.

Phoenix Rescue Mission is having their Thanksgiving Outreach on Saturday, Nov. 23. From 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. where volunteers will hand out turkeys, thanksgiving food, and hygiene bags to families in need.