Skip to main content

AZ Food Pantry Vows to Rebuild After Losing 40,000 Pounds of Food During Fire: 'This Is God's Mission'

Share This article

Organizers of one Arizona food pantry say "we are going to rebuild" after the center was destroyed last week in a fire.

The Maricopa Food Pantry lost nearly 40,000 pounds of canned food, meat, and produce on March 28 when the building burned down, KNXV News reports.

High winds fueled the fire which consumed six semi-trailers and a storage container, all filled with food donations.

Jim Shoaf, the group's founder and CEO, told CBN News, "Just so you know, we have seen God moving this."

The food bank is located near Mount View Community Church, however, the building was untouched by the incident. 

According to KNXV, Maricopa has served the community for 17 years and provides meals for nearly 1,200 families a week. 

Mike Connelly, president of Maricopa Food Pantry, says people have come to depend on the food bank. 

"They really relied on this food bank, and I don't know where they are going to be without it," Connelly told KNXV. "Here in this part of Pinal County, there isn't really much. We're a food desert. We bring all the food out and we have people packing boxes here, then we run cars in two lanes," says Connelly.

The organization plans to replace the trailers with a warehouse that will also serve as a soup kitchen to feed the hungry.

"I know we can't replace what we lost but we're not done," said Shoaf. "We're going to rebuild. We're going to rebuild bigger and better than what we were."

In a Facebook post, Maricopa thanked the community for the outpouring of prayers and shared a positive message about its future.

"This is God's mission at His house. He saved His house, and the mission is still ours to continue."

A GoFundMe was set up to assist with rebuilding the food pantry. So far, the effort has raised $25,990 of its $25,000 goal.

***Please sign up for CBN Newsletters and download the CBN News app to ensure you keep receiving the latest news from a distinctly Christian perspective.***

Share This article

About The Author

Andrea Morris
Andrea
Morris

Andrea Morris is a Features Producer for The 700 Club. She came to CBN in 2019 where she worked as a web producer in the news department for three years. Her passion was always to tell human interest stories that would touch the hearts of readers while connecting them with God. She transitioned into her new role with The 700 Club in August 2022.