United Way of Northern Arizona Awards $50,000 Grant to Flagstaff Family Food Center

United Way of Northern Arizona has recently awarded a $50,000 grant from its COVID-19 Fund to the Flagstaff Family Food Center (FFFC), a nonprofit meeting the challenges of COVID-19 by adapting how it provides services while dramatically expanding its services to those in need.

“We have already seen a remarkable increase in the number of households accessing our services, with the number of households served through our Emergency Food Box Distribution nearly tripling,” according to Carrie Henderson, the group’s development director.

FFFC has had to handle this increase with fewer volunteers, as they have asked their senior-aged helpers to stay home until it is safe to return to their regular shifts. This has decreased the FFFC volunteer workforce by about a third.

Funding from UWNA will help the food center meet the increased cost of ramping up many of its programs, including city-wide PB&J sandwich distribution for children, Sack Lunch Program, Emergency Food Boxes and home deliveriesto house-bound seniors and other at-risk groups.

FFFC is also making the changes that are necessary to comply with state and federal guidelines in order to lessen the spread of COVID-19.

Instead of the daily hot sit-down meal, the food center is offering “Grab-n-Go” sack dinners. To ensure that its clients are still getting a well-balanced meal, it now has to purchase some specific food items, plus the containers, utensils and bags needed to create “to go” meals. The food center continues to serve up to 200 people each night with these meals.

Like many other nonprofits, FFFC has seen a decrease in donation levels during the pandemic, as supporters who normally would give are facing their own economic hardships in the form of reduced hours or layoffs. Meanwhile, much of the organization’s support comes from the Flagstaff business community, which is under tremendous pressure as well.

That’s where the United Way can help, leveraging our systems and experience and combining your donations into larger grants that can be deployed where they are needed most.

We understand how that in these uncertain times, many cannot be as generous as they would like to be. If you can afford to donate, however, please consider a gift to the COVID-19 Fund today.

Take care, stay safe, do your part to flatten the curve, and remember we are at our best when we Live United.