Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona closed for the holidays

All the locations of the Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona will be closed for the holidays from Wednesday, Dec. 25, to Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2025. 

Site that will be shuttered during the holiday week include the Willcox Distribution Center, 401 E. Maley St.; Caridad Community Kitchen, 845 N. Main Ave.; and Las Milpitas Community Farm, 2405 S. Cottonwood Ln. 

For those who are in urgent need of food, emergency distribution will resume on Thursday, Jan. 2, at 8 a.m. in the Community Food Bank, 3003 S. Country Club Rd., location.

The food bank is a source of aid that extends to five counties in Southern Arizona. They work on a donation basis. For example, they will be accepting contributions in monetary and food forms at the Winterhaven Festival Lights until Saturday, Dec. 28. Aside from running distribution centers, the food bank offers resources like gardening workshops at Las Milpitas Community Farm where Tucsonenses can attend and gain or build on skills to improve their green thumbs. 

They also host the Santa Cruz River Farmers’ Market every Thursday year-round from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. at the Mercado San Agustin Annex, 267 S. Avenida del Convento, where people may purchase fresh local produce and engage in educational experiences such as cooking demonstrations. The market will be closed on Thursday, Dec. 26 and Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025.

Their website offers an interactive map that shows locations in Southern Arizona that have, not only emergency groceries, but prepared meals too. The map provides addresses, contact information and hours of the available locations. Some of those places include fire stations, local businesses and more scattered around Tucson and neighboring cities such as Oro Valley, Sahuarita, Green Valley, Marana, Nogales and others. 

Regular hours for food distribution in the Community Food Bank location at 3003 S. Country Club Rd. will resume to Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. and Thursdays from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. For more information about where to find emergency supplies, hours and locations can be found on their website.