By Karen Schaffner, Tucson Local Media Staff Writer
Every Thursday and Sunday evening Marana resident Arianna Jimenez heads east on 22nd Street to somewhere between Swan and Columbus. She stops at a nearly empty lot behind Burger King and Living Water Ministries. Look around and all anyone will see is a couple of storage sheds.
Jimenez and a handful of Marana volunteers will give out nearly 100 free meals consisting of a warm bean and cheese burrito, crackers, a granola bar and a tangelo. Water is also available.
It’s what Jimenez does. Why? Because this is her calling.
“It’s what I’m supposed to be doing,” she said. “Besides being a mother I’ve never felt that this was my purpose more than anything else. If I go against my purpose, that’s just not right. It just feels like going against the grain not doing this.”
Jimenez has run The Lot on 22nd, a 501(c)(3) whose mission is to feed people and provide whatever else might be needed. The mission is to “help alleviate hunger and hopelessness by providing food, hygiene, clean clothing and some simple, freely-given humanity to those in need,” according to its website.
Jimenez means to fulfill that mission.
On this particular Thursday night a handful of people began to filter in. The first table they encountered had canned goods and other non-perishable food items. The next two tables held clothing that people went through to see if there’s anything they can use. Finally, on the other side of a storage bin was the prepared, warmed food. Guests are given one simple meal stored in plastic bags. On this night the meal was bean burritos but other nights have featured peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, ham sandwiches, even pizza. The bags are handed out and it’s one to a person, unless guests ask for more because they have someone at home or in the car or just somewhere else.
Anyone can get a meal or the other items, no questions asked but there are regulars who know Jimenez and rely on what she offers. People of all ages including children come from all over the area. Some from a nearby short-term-rental apartment, some unhoused, but all are hungry and not just for food. When guests come, they are also offered a listening ear and companionship with other guests. A table and chairs are set up so people can enjoy their meal together.
Besides the meal, which the group made that afternoon with the help of students from MCAT High School, they gave out lots of socks and shirts and on this cold night, blankets and jackets too. People also asked for knapsacks, which unfortunately Jimenez did not have. Other products that get passed out are hygiene products and pants. Jimenez says the stuff they give out are designed “to meet the most basic human comforts.”
Everything The Lot on 22nd does it does on donations, both food and labor. Jimenez has a list of her most-needed items.
“Our yearly needs are hygiene, our yearly needs are clothing, are non-perishable food,” she said.
The greatest need? Cash.
“I need to get new tables, new things and of course I could discuss seasonal things like our sleeping bags and our blankets,” she said. “Backpacks are a huge thing. People constantly need backpacks.”
Arianna Jimenez, (center) chats with two guests Thursday evening at The Lot on 22nd. Behind her is one of the regular volunteers, Jordan Velez, who keeps the night going as he fills requests of jackets and blankets. The organization feeds about 100 people on any given Thursday and Sunday night.
One of the helpers on this night was Lorraine Moon, who learned about The Lot on 22nd and the work Jimenez does at a yoga class Jimenez leads. She was curious,
“I came here, it must have been 104-degrees that night,” she said. “We were dying because we had no shade and no lights and I was working the front table. I (put) a pair of little kid’s shoes out there. I was embarrassed because they should have been in the garbage. This little boy comes over with his grandma and he reaches for those shoes and he just grabs them like they were the best things in the world. I thought, ‘We can do better than this.’ Once I was here, I just couldn’t walk away.”
She’s been a regular ever since. Once a month she and a neighbor make the meals, footing the cost themselves. That’s what makes this organization different.
Of course, because this is run on donations alone, there are lean times too.
“Some Thursdays she doesn’t have an organization to come,” Moon said. “There are times she just resorts to buying pizzas and grapes and giving out whatever she can.”
The organization is always in need of donations and to that end there’s a box outside of the new Ace Hardware store on Tangerine Road in Gladden Farms.
As the night winds down, clean up begins.
This is what Jimenez does. She feeds people and gives out the most basic of necessities to anyone who asks. She does not expect anyone else to do the job. Still, it’s good to have help.
“I never feel that just because I have to do it means that you do too,” she said. “If you feel called to help, please do. If not, that’s ok too.”
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By Karen Schaffner, Tucson Local Media Staff Writer Feeding the hungry one meal at a time in Marana | News www.insidetucsonbusiness.com
www.insidetucsonbusiness.com – Arizona Local News Results in news of type article 2025-12-12 07:00:00
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