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Superstition Community Food Bank requests $75,000 to expand weekend student packs and sustain emergency programs
Summary
Executive Director Eric Arriola told the commission the food bank served roughly 44,300 people last year and is seeking $75,000 from the city to maintain emergency food distribution, holiday meal boxes and to expand a weekend student backpack program to additional Apache Junction schools.
The Superstition Community Food Bank asked the Apache Junction Health and Human Services Commission on March 10 for $75,000 in FY2026 funds to sustain and expand local food programs, including a student weekend backpack program.
Executive Director Eric Arriola said the food bank helped about 44,300 people last year across its service area and that Apache Junction proper accounted for about 27,000 of those visits. Arriola described four core programs: emergency food distribution (Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, 2 p.m.–4 p.m.), holiday meal boxes, the Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP) for seniors and a student weekend backpack program for children at targeted elementary schools.
Arriola said the CSFP senior box program has expanded from about 70 seniors when he started to 140; those boxes are distributed monthly and are a USDA pass‑through program. He said the student backpack program started at four Peaks Elementary and Desert Vista Elementary and cost roughly $20,000 to operate; expanding the program to Peralta Trail and Avalon Elementary would add about $20,000 more, depending on enrollment.
"We are asking for $75,000 this year to help maintain our current programming and to increase our distribution and outreach," Arriola said.
Arriola told commissioners the food bank currently receives limited direct municipal funding: the city provided $56,000 in the prior year and Pinal County contributed $7,000; other financial support comes from private donors, churches and community fundraising. He said about 40% of clients are non‑Apache Junction residents and that neighboring municipalities sometimes support the food bank on different schedules or through separate grant cycles.
He explained how household distributions are calibrated: a family of four receives roughly 100 pounds of food for a two‑week period (about 25–30 pounds per person), and larger households receive additional commodity bags and meat allocations. The food bank participates in Link2Feed, a statewide client‑tracking system, and will restrict visits when someone has used another pantry within the prior 72 hours.
Commissioners asked about wait lists for the senior CSFP program; Arriola said the list is managed externally by the program and that clients who miss two months in a row are removed from the senior list, though they can still use regular emergency distribution. He said he is pursuing additional grants and municipal support but that some funding streams, such as larger city grant programs, operate on multi‑year timelines.
Arriola also reported a recent increase in demand: since January he said the food bank has seen about a 500‑person increase in visits, which he attributed to economic uncertainty.
No formal funding action was taken at the March 10 meeting; the food bank's request will remain under consideration with other FY2026 applicants.
