Marana, Arizona
Marana Food Bank & Community Resource Center had a special guest on Thursday.
Congressman Juan Ciscomani and his family visited the Marana Food Bank to observe its operations and services. Ciscomani strongly supports the concept of food banks and their role in the community.
“I’m familiar with them, I know the work they all do and understand the system. This is the third one I’ve visited in the region and my goal is to get through all of them,” said Congressman Ciscomani.
The food bank has been an organization since 1952 and has been at its current facility since Dec. 1, 2023.
“Since we got this thing up and running we’re serving 900 families,” said Mayor Ed Honea.
Many of the donations the food bank receives are private donations from the community and grocery stores that have overstocked products during the holiday season, as well as big events like the Super Bowl.
The food bank not only helps out people in the community by providing them with food they also help them out by providing volunteer work as well as jobs.
“We have a lot of wonderful volunteers and donors in our community to make this happen because a lot of people know or have been in a situation where we don’t have a lot of money,” said Executive Director Carlos Valles. “We want to offer food to people, and we also want to break the poverty cycle for people who can work.”
Last year at its sister location in Sahuarita helped 22 people by not only finding them a job but paving a career path as well. Those individuals are now coming back and writing checks to help out the food bank.
“That goes beyond breaking the cycle that’s like a full circle moment,” said Congressman Ciscomani.
One of the stories Congressman Ciscomani was told was about an individual who worked as a line worker at the pecan orchard plant in Sahuarita for 15-18 years before it closed down, laying off 140 people. The individual was struggling financially which led to her asking for help from the resources the food bank provided. They enrolled in a computer basics class, they were excelling at it and took enough courses to where they enrolled in community college and now work for the state of Arizona.
“Our focus is changing one life at a time,” said Valles.
To donate to the Marana Food Bank & Community Resource Center contact:
(520) 444-9420
For more information about the Marana Food Bank & Community Resource Center visit:
Food — Marana Food Bank & Community Resource Center
