A Chandler food bank is in desperate need after two of their four coolers broke down last weekend, forcing them to throw out thousands of pounds worth of food.
The coolers triggered an alarm when they began to fail overnight, but because it happened on the weekend, it wasn't noticed until workers at AZCEND came back to work that Monday morning.
“Throughout the whole month, we distribute 60,000 to 80,000 pounds of food,” said Trinity Donovan, CEO of AZCEND.
That night, they lost 4,000 pounds of perishable food, which is nearly 10 percent of their monthly food supply.
“We usually serve 40 to 60 families per day,” Donovan said.
But the summer months bring a higher demand at a time when they have less food on hand, as these are the months they see the least amount of donations.
“In the summer with the kids home, often times families need more food to be able to cover the lunches that can be covered in schools instead,” said Donovan.
Right now, they have a temporary fix, but when nearly 60,000 people rely on their services each year, this is a major setback, and Donovan says there is a need to replenish their reserves fast.
The cost to replace all that food comes to about $7,000 and it’ll cost an extra $500 to fix the coolers.
The food bank is asking for monetary donations. You can contribute by going to their website.
