WHAT WE ARE ABOUT

The Arizona Hunger Campaign began in January, 2010, in the offices of Jerry Colangelo, a local Phoenix sports legend and long-time community leader.  At that time, representatives from local food banks, Lift Up America, Arizona Christian Foundation, Arizona Broadcasters Association and local churches joined together to discuss what they could do together to fight hunger in our Valley and state.  They decided to begin collaborative discussions about how they could pool resources to alleviate the problem of hunger during this devastating economic downturn.

The result of the collaboration was called the “Arizona Hunger Campaign” and a goal of collecting 5,000,000 pounds of food in one year was chosen.  The kickoff for the Arizona Hunger Campaign occurred in May, 2010, at the US Airways Arena.  Local media and sports celebrities, such as Kurt Warner, Luis Gonzalez, Larry Fitzgerald and Jerry Colangelo were on hand to launch this groundbreaking campaign.

Since the kickoff event, the Arizona Hunger Campaign has sponsored several initiatives:

  • Father’s Day Food Drive – over 20 churches in the Valley collected food and donations on Father’s Day 2010, possibly the largest combined food drive by churches in our state’s history.  This food drive raised over 510,000 pounds for local food banks and pantries in our Valley.
  • Season of Service Food Drive – in conjunction with the Luis Palau Season of Service, November 2010 was designated Hunger Month, and local churches collected food for local and international relief.
  • ASU Food Distribution – In December, 2010, AHC partnered with Arizona State University, Tyson Food, Food City and many other vendors to pack food boxes for over 3,000 families.  This food was distributed as part of the Cena En El Barrio program at five Food City locations.

Future Events include:

  • September 12-18, 2011: Arizona Hunger Action Week

Please stay tuned for more events as we continue our march towards 5,000,000 pounds of food for those in need in our Valley!

Find out more about The Arizona Hunger Campaign »