Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona Foundation for Community & Health Advancement (the Foundation), in partnership with the Arizona Food Bank Network, hosted a Day of Action aimed at addressing food insecurity in Arizona.
About 50 Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona employees and community members came together on March 6 at St. Mary’s Food Bank in Phoenix, lending their support to help make a difference in the lives of those facing hunger in Arizona. St. Mary’s Food Bank distributes enough food to provide 300,000 meals a day to the hungry Arizona and on March 6, volunteers packed a total of 3,168 emergency food boxes.
This event, which was also mirrored in Tucson and Flagstaff, was part of a two-day Community Collective series.
There are more than 750,000 people in Arizona who are food insecure, and Maricopa County has the 4th largest population of food-insecure people out of any county in the country.
The Community Collective Day of Action was coupled with a webinar that took place on March 5, where the community was invited to hear from April Bradham, president and CEO of the Arizona Food Bank Network, who shared insights into those facing hunger in Arizona and the support available.
Bradham discussed the fall and rise of food insecurity in Arizona over the past four years, how food banks gain and distribute resources, and the role of food banks as one way, but not the only way, to address food insecurity.
This event is one of the many initiatives the Foundation has taken to improve the health of Arizonans. In 2023, the Foundation invested more than $3.1 million in grant funding to help address the state’s most critical health challenges including mental health, substance use disorder, chronic health conditions, and health equity.
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