Last year, SBCO president Steve Groth presented TCFB CEO Cynthia Chevalley with a check for the $226,647.83 in donations raised during the food drive.
Nancy McCluskey-Moore
This year SaddleBrooke Community Outreach (SBCO) is celebrating 25 years of making a difference in local communities. Initially, SBCO focused on providing clothing for local school children in need. But even in its early days, SBCO expanded its reach into the local communities beyond clothing. The first SBCO Annual Food Drive was held in March 1998. This year the 24th Annual Food Drive, benefiting the Tri-Community Food Bank (TCFB) in Mammoth, will be held between Feb. 19 and March 19.
TCFB serves needy families living in Mammoth, San Manuel, Oracle, and the Dudleyville/Aravaipa area. Many in these communities are very poor and the nearest grocery store is 28 miles away. Our community’s donations helped to provide bi-monthly emergency food boxes to 468 households (1,120 people)—including 387 children and 298 seniors—for the past calendar year. Each emergency food box provides nine family meals, and TCFB spends $10,000 per month on food purchases. All monetary contributions go directly to grocery purchases and related expenses.
SaddleBrooke and SaddleBrooke Ranch residents collaborate on the Annual SBCO Food Drive.
Due to the continued uncertainty surrounding COVID, the 2022 Food Drive will be limited to monetary contributions made online or with checks. Perhaps in 2023 we will be able to return to donations of food in addition to money.
You can make a donation online using a credit card or write a check. Make your check payable to “SBCO Food Drive” and write your unit number on the memo line. You can either mail or deliver it to SBCO, 63675 E. SaddleBrooke Blvd., Ste. L, Tucson, AZ 85739. Online donations can be made at community-outreach.org using a credit card. You don’t need a PayPal account to make an online donation.
All monetary contributions go directly to grocery purchases and related expenses. SBCO and TCFB are all-volunteer organizations and are IRS 501(c)(3) and Arizona nonprofit charitable organizations, so donations made to these organizations are tax deductible. Please give generously so no one goes hungry.
If you would like to volunteer for the food drive or have questions about this event, contact Andrea Stephens in SaddleBrooke at [email protected] or 616-901-6893, or Betty Ryan in SaddleBrooke Ranch at [email protected] or 425-260-4418.