Publisher: Food Bank News
Published: September 7, 2026
Source: Read at Food Bank News (https://foodbanknews.org/st-marys-makes-home-delivery-a-core-competency/)
Category: Food Access
St. Mary's Food Bank in Arizona now makes about 7,000 home deliveries a month, up from about 900 a month before Covid and double that earlier volume. The program serves three of the nine counties covered by the food bank, plus some additional areas, through third-party delivery companies and two staff members. DoorDash handles about 45% of deliveries, while refrigerated delivery drivers carry 30 to 50 orders at a time, with each delivery containing about 30 pounds of food. St. Mary's made about 90,000 deliveries, a 21% increase over the previous year and about 10,000 more than expected, while its overall budget went down.
Why this matters: The program shows how a food bank can use third-party delivery companies, route planning, and local pickup hubs to reach people who cannot reliably travel to a food distribution site. Its eligibility rules include mental or physical disability, chronic illness, or lack of reliable transportation, groups that independent grocers and food-access programs may also need to serve.
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