Food bank considers opening San Luis branch to meet demand
SAN LUIS, Ariz. — The growing demand for its services in this city is prompting the Yuma Community Food Bank to consider opening a branch in San Luis.
The food bank will look into the feasibility of the branch in a study expected to begin later this month, the non-profit organization’s president and chief executive officer, Shara Merten, confirmed.
She said the food bank could have the results of the study as early as January.
“At our main campus on 24th Street in Yuma, we currently (serve) 1,387 families that reside in San Luis and who go there for different reasons,” Merten said.
She said the food bank may be able to serve them at a branch in their own community.
“If we can find an adequate location with refrigeration for cold storage, it would help those families of limited means remain (in San Luis) and receive their emergency food boxes.”
Another 780 families in San Luis are served by the food bank three days each month when the organization comes to the border city to distribute groceries. Among those served are the elderly at the city’s senior center.
San Luis Mayor Gerardo Sanchez says City Hall would welcome a branch, noting that the number of families served in the city by the food bank grew 20 percent from one year to the next.
He said the food bank for several years has been one of the non-profit organizations receiving annual contributions from the city to help defray the cost of services those agencies provide in San Luis.
In the current fiscal year, he said, the city is providing about $20,000 to the food bank, plus an additional $5,000 for snacks given to youngsters at the city’s Youth Center.