About Us: The History
St. Mary’s Food Bank was founded in 1967 by John van Hengel, developer of the food banking concept. Globally, it is considered the world’s first food bank.
In 1965, van Hengel was volunteering at St. Vincent de Paul, collecting donations for the community dining room. Van Hengel learned that grocery stores disposed of food that had damaged packaging or was near expiration. Armed with this knowledge, van Hengel met with grocery store managers across the Valley, persuading them to donate edible but unsalable food to St. Vincent de Paul. Soon van Hengel was receiving more food than one dining room could use.
From this experience, the concept of food banking was born. Based on the idea of a “bank,” individuals and companies who had the resources could make a “deposit” of food and funds through donations and agencies could make “withdrawals.” Van Hengel approached St. Mary’s Basilica with his idea of creating a central location where social service agencies could receive needed food for their clients at no cost.
In its first year, the Food Bank, comprised of van Hengel and a few volunteers, collected and distributed more than 250,000 pounds of food to 36 local agencies. Inspired by the concept, cities across the nation began opening their own food banks; van Hengel served as a consultant to many.
While van Hengel may have created the concept of food banking, he was aided immeasurably by the business acumen of Alan Merrett. Merrett, who had a food industry background as an executive with A. J. Bayless Markets, greatly expanded the Food Bank’s food resourcing network. He served as the Food Bank’s first Board President and as Executive Director in the 1990’s. Anticipating the increased demand on the Food Bank’s services, Merrett led the effort that culminated in the move to its current 31st Avenue location.
In 1976 van Hengel established Feeding America (formerly known as Second Harvest), a consulting organization for those interested in starting food banks. The organization has a network of more than 200 food banks nationwide and is the largest domestic hunger relief organization in the United States.
In 1986 van Hengel established Food Banking, Inc., serving as a consultant to food banks in countries around the world. The organization has since changed its name to the Global Food Banking Network, helping to establish food banks throughout Africa, Eastern Europe, Asia, South America, Canada, and Australia.
Van Hengel maintained that "The poor we will always have among us, but why the hungry?" With his vision, communities around the world are able to help those in need. Today, the Food Bank is the second largest in the nation, providing food to 500 partner agencies in Arizona.
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