Imagine starting your life over, especially at a time when most people are thinking about retirement.
Chris Evans is one of the many people, given a second chance, thanks to St. Mary's Food Bank. On November 18, 1978, Evans' mother, brothers and sisters were killed in Jonestown, Guyana. More than nine hundred people died in the mass, murder-suicide in South America.
Evans was 16 years old at the time. He says he started using alcohol and pot. He hung out with the wrong crowd, and he turned to crime. Evans would spend 31-years in prison for robbery. "I was scared because I didn't know what the world held for me out here," said Evans.
Evans wanted a fresh start and turned to the Community Kitchen at St. Mary's Food Bank. He entered the program to train to work in a restaurant. "I thought that they would look down on me because of my past criminal history. I thought they would fear me, and there would be distance. But there was love from the moment I walked in," said Evans.
Evans has a job lined up, but most importantly, he has direction and hope.
The Community Kitchen is one of the many programs administered through St. Mary's Food Bank. Each year, the alliance distributes food through five hundred nonprofit partners in 13 Arizona counties.
