Community Food Bank

Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona is a community resource serving Tucsonans in need.

About Community Food Bank

Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona is a nonprofit community resource serving Tucsonans and people across Southern Arizona who need access to food and related support. Based in Pima County, the organization works to ensure that communities are healthy and hunger-free today, tomorrow, and always. Its mission goes beyond providing food, addressing the root causes of hunger while working to restore dignity, health, opportunity, and hope to people living in poverty.

The organization's work includes emergency food assistance, free meals, child nutrition programs, health and nutrition education, culinary training, and additional resources. It also supports farmers' markets, community gardens, local growers, and regional food systems. At Las Milpitas Community Farm, neighbors can connect, share resources, and grow food. Caridad Community Kitchen is another part of the organization's network, offering a setting connected to its food and meal programs.

For people looking for immediate help, the Community Food Bank provides an interactive map that identifies nearby food resources based on a ZIP code or cross streets. Resources may include emergency groceries and prepared meals. The organization's locations include the Gabrielle Giffords Resource Center in Tucson, mobile distributions in Marana, resource centers in Green Valley, Amado, and Nogales, Caridad Community Kitchen, Las Milpitas Community Farm, and the Willcox Distribution Center. Its rural distributions extend the organization's reach beyond Tucson and into communities across Southern Arizona.

The Community Food Bank partners with more than 400 organizations across five counties, covering more than 23,000 square miles. In the most recent figures shared on its website, the organization distributed 34,929,535 pounds of food in one year, including 1.76 million pounds distributed in rural areas. Its service area includes Pima, Cochise, Graham, Greenlee, and Santa Cruz counties. The organization relies on 160 employees and hundreds of community volunteers to help make food and programs available to eligible applicants.

Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona began in 1975, when the advocacy organization Food Action Coalition of Tucson became the Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona. Barry Corey and Mark Homan founded the food bank, which grew from one Tucson facility into an organization with eight locations serving five counties. Its work has retained an advocacy focus, including efforts related to food security and food justice. The food bank is also a partner food bank of Feeding America. In 2018, Feeding America named it Food Bank of the Year, citing its work rescuing fresh produce from the border of Mexico and redistributing it to local families and other food banks.

Tucson community members can connect with the Community Food Bank in several ways. Those seeking assistance can begin with the organization's food-finding map or visit one of its resource centers and distribution locations. Others can support the work by donating, volunteering, advocating, hosting a food drive or fundraiser, or using a food drop-off location. The organization provides services to eligible applicants without regard to race, color, creed, religion, disability, age, national origin, sexual orientation, political beliefs, or gender.