11/23/2012 8:55:00 AM Food bank helps record number of people
Matt Hinshaw/The Daily Courier A line of people waiting for food donations wraps around Living Faith Church Wednesday during the Thanksgiving food drive in Prescott Valley.
Matt Hinshaw/The Daily Courier Dan Delano, a volunteer with the Living Faith Church, hands Victoria Clark a turkey while fellow volunteer Sylvia Maiorana, left, helps Clark with her food box Wednesday afternoon at a Thanksgiving food drive in Prescott Valley.
The Yavapai Food Bank met a higher demand this Thanksgiving season for food boxes and frozen turkeys than a year ago by serving 1,392 families, Executive Director Ann Wilson said.
Wilson, who blames the slow economic recovery with people continuing to lose jobs and facing other hardships, said the food bank signed up 250 more people this year than in 2011. She said the food bank, located at 8866 E. Long Mesa Dr. in Prescott Valley, signed up 61 new families a week ago.
A total of 304 families arrived Tuesday at the food bank to pick up food boxes, and a similar turnout was expected Wednesday, Wilson said.
She said the first day of the giveaways for Thanksgiving "is always the rush because they (the recipients) are afraid there is not going to be enough food."
Her staff handed out the boxes to quad-city-area residents who provided documentation that they are low income. The food boxes contained a variety of canned goods, including fruits, vegetables and soups, Wilson said.
"They get dry products like some kind of pasta or rice," she said. "And they will get some dairy products and fresh produce and meat, and they also get pastries and bread."
The boxes contained enough food to last three to four days, Wilson said, adding recipients may return once a week.
The food bank also sent recipients Tuesday and Wednesday to the Living Faith Christian Center on Coyote Springs Road off Highway 89A to pick up frozen turkeys, stuffing, bags of potatoes, canned vegetables and cranberries, pumpkin pie and whipped cream. Wilson said the food bank delivered 1,300 turkeys to the church as of Wednesday morning.
Recipients of the food and turkey baskets waited hours on both days for the food bank and church to open for the food giveaways. Hours were 1 to 6 p.m. at the church and 2 to 5 p.m. at the food bank.
"It is like a Justin Bieber concert getting tickets," quipped Sylvia Maiorana, a church member who volunteered with the food giveaways.
About 10 people waited outside the church at 10:45 a.m. Wednesday, and two others arrived.
Brian Hines, a 46-year-old disabled construction worker who lives in Prescott Valley, said he showed up with his wife, Linda, at 9:30 a.m.
"We made it here on barely enough gas," said Linda, who rode a wheelchair because she is recovering from leg surgery.
Another disabled Prescott Valley resident, Mary Kobe, said she picked up her turkey box Tuesday. She and a friend waited since around 9 a.m. Wednesday morning outside the entrance to the food bank.
Kobe, a 65-year-old retired security guard, said she has patronized the food bank since "the bottom fell out" of the economy about five years ago.
"Nobody likes to come here," she said. "You hate to get food."
Kobe, who plans to celebrate Thanksgiving today with her husband, Jerry, at a friend's home, said, "I never thought I'd be here. I used to make a lot of money."
Both Kobe and the Hineses, who plan to celebrate Thanksgiving with a neighbor, said they have something to be thankful for today.
Kobe, who is diabetic, said she is "thankful for our health and being alive and hope for a better year and for everybody."
Reader Comments
Posted: Saturday, January 26, 2013
Article comment by:
The Foster Family
I am ultra grateful and very thankful to the Yavapai Food Bank and the Living Faith Church. A few years ago I was unemployed and pretty much broke, and they supplied food for my families Thanksgiving.God Bless you all and many thanks.BTW this is what Christians do, find a need and meet it!
Posted: Tuesday, January 22, 2013
Article comment by:
Kevin Elliott
I think I was in the Air Force with Mr. Delano and I still consider him one of my dearest friends although it has been many years since we last spoke. I would love to make contact with him once again.
