PHOENIX — Now that the holiday season is over, food banks and non-profit groups are recovering from the holiday rush, but that doesn't mean their work is done — in fact, it's far from over.
St. Mary's Food Bank says it is trying to keep up with the increasing demand of everyday duties while also finding itself without much-needed volunteer help.
St. Mary's says that while it received the consistent gift of 100-200 volunteers at volunteer shifts in November and December, they're now seeing shifts with only around three dozen volunteers.
Having more hands on deck means the food bank can build the "more than 100,000 emergency food boxes, senior food boxes, and kids backpacks we put out every month, but to build up a two-week cushion stockpile," St. Mary's says.
Around 1,700 families receive help daily at St. Mary's main locations and thousands more through partners.
"We are quickly going through our cushion and can really use some helping hands to get us through this slow time," the organization says, asking individuals to consider volunteering.
You can sign up to volunteer here. There are Emergency Food Box Packing and Neighbor Distribution shifts with open volunteer slots. Both are available at various times throughout the day and are shifts under three hours long.
