Fall is coming, and though temperatures are still simmering, hardy local nonprofits are offering several opportunities to enjoy distinctive fundraising walks.
The Humane Society of Southern Arizona will hold Step For Pets on Saturday, Sept. 15, at the Tucson Convention Center. The event will provide the opportunity to climb the convention center stairs in air-conditioned comfort while raising funds for the organizationβs pets and programs.
βWe have done our outdoor event, βSweat for Pets: Walk, Run & Roll,β for three years now and will present our fourth on Saturday, Oct. 20, at the UA campus, but we wanted to try a more vertical event,β said Randy Peterson, the groupβs director of development. βThe Bisbee 1000 Great Stair Climb has been very popular over the years and we wanted to bring something like that to Tucson to support our pets, so we thought we could do it indoors where it is air-conditioned.β
Step for Pets features a course of 1,306 steps; participants can also choose to do a half-course of 650 steps. Those who register for the event will receive free registration for Sweat for Pets in October.
βWe are hoping lots of folks will do both. We also have an event almost every weekend starting Labor Day and continuing until Thanksgiving, so there are plenty of opportunities for people to support our pets until they find their forever homes, which is always our goal,β Peterson said.
Step for Pets seeks to raise at least $7,000 to help offset costs for the humane society, which houses between 200 and 250 pocket pets (guineau pigs, hamsters, rabbits), chickens, dogs and cats at any one time during the summer in its new location, 635 W. Roger Road.
Peterson credited about 1,300 volunteers for ongoing support with myriad services including pet adoption and care, community education, affordable spay-neuter and vaccination clinics, microchipping, foster care, end-of-life services and more.
βThe donated time of our volunteers is about 200,000 hours a year; we couldnβt exist in the form that we do without their help,β Peterson said.
Food bank event
The Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona also relies heavily on volunteers: About 6,500 people donate their time and talent to more than 30 programs in community development, education and food and health, according to Norma Cable, a spokeswoman for the food bank. The array of programs includes not only preparation of emergency food boxes for nearly 200,000 people annually, but a diverse range of services such as after-school meals and snacks for low-income students, senior meals, community garden plots, food enterprises and catering.
Many programs will be highlighted during Hunger Action Month. The activities β fundraisers at restaurants, food drives, farmerβs markets and a βFast for Hungerβ in which participants donate the money they would have otherwise spent on food on Sept. 28 β begin on Saturday and continue through September.
Festivities also include HungerWalk 2018, the signature fundraiser for the food bank on Saturday, Sept. 15, at Sam Lena Recreation Area at the Kino Sports Center Complex, 3400 S. Country Club Road. A walk will also be held at the same time in Green Valley at the Shoppes at La Posada, 665 S. Park Centre Ave.
βThere is something different every day and we are excited to get people thinking about different ways they can fight against hunger,β said Cable. βMost of us take food for granted: We have enough β and maybe even too much β to eat, but for many people in our community that is not a fact. They face hunger every day and donβt know where their next meal will come from. This is a good time for us to think about that and do something about it.β
About a year ago, Tucson natives Debbie and Jaime Rendon decided to do just that.
After many years of donating to the food bank, the couple went a step further and began volunteering at the nonprofitβs Caridad Community Kitchen, which offers a cost-free 10-week culinary training program for underemployed and unemployed individuals pursuing careers in the culinary industry.
Debbie said that prior to volunteering, they were unaware of the kitchen and many other services provided by the food bank.
βVolunteering has really opened our eyes about what is out there. We never knew that they supply senior meals and free community meals at sites around town and offer after-school meals through the Boys and Girls Clubs of Tucson. It is great to donate money, but to also go out and get your hands dirty and see how your money is put to work is amazing,β sad Debbie, a retired legal assistant.
On the days they volunteer, Debbie and Jaime help prepare and plate between 850 and 1,000 meals during a three-hour period; the kitchen prepares about 35,000 meals monthly.
βIt brings a real inner satisfaction to help individuals in need. ... It makes it easier to sleep at night knowing that in some way we are able to make sure even one person has a full stomach before going to bed,β said Jaime.
The Rendons encourage Tucsonans to take a fresh look at the food bank and its ability to transform every dollar donated into four meals to counteract community hunger. Currently one in four Arizona children and one in five adults are at risk of hunger.
βI think many people have tunnel vision about what the community food bank is and they arenβt aware of everything that they do,β Debbie said.
Jaime emphasized the fact that 97 cents of every dollar donated is funneled into food programs should also inspire confidence .
βWe are both natives, and you think that you get to know what Tucson is like. I have been here for 60 years, but I found I really had no idea what the community food bank does.
βIf people only knew, we could feed more people and I think more people would be willing to volunteer as well,β he said.
