Neighbors and Businesses Feeding Neighbors, Every Day

For 35 years, the phrase Neighbors Feeding Neighbors, Every Day has served as our mission statement.

It’s also a pretty accurate description of how things get done at Flagstaff Family Food Center.

Sometimes these volunteers show up as individuals or as part of a service group. Increasingly, however, we’ve been seeing businesses who have incorporated volunteering together at FFFC as part of their company ethos.

Today, I’d like to highlight a handful of these businesses feeding neighbors, what they do, and why they find it meaningful for themselves and their employees.

Desert Financial Credit Union: ‘Closer Together When We Volunteer’

Over in our warehouse on the east side of town, you’ll often find workers from Desert Financial Credit Union helping us pack food boxes or loading them into neighbors’ vehicles.

Branch Manager Susan Tafoya-Padilla says that when Desert Financial expanded to Flagstaff, they chose to make FFFC one of their first community partnerships.

“It fills us with gratitude and brings our team closer together when we volunteer,” she explained. “At FFFC, you can directly see the impact of your volunteer efforts, and you leave feeling like you put in a real day’s work to benefit your community.”

The credit union’s job is to help empower people financially, she said, and when it works to fulfill basic human needs like food security, it lays the foundations that allow people to ultimately achieve their financial hopes and dreams.

“Supporting Arizona nonprofits increases our impact and helps more people in our community to thrive,” she said.

Kinney: A Decade of Service – and Counting

Every first Wednesday of the month, from 3:30 to 6:30 p.m., it’s Kinney in the Kitchen. Typically, about eight folks from the construction company will come in to prep, serve and clean up after the evening meal. They’ve been doing this for 10 years and plan to keep it up for the foreseeable future.

“We appreciate the mission and that we can contribute by doing something as simple as serving a hot meal,” said Mike Thomas, President of Kinney Construction Services. “It’s so important and it’s very meaningful for our employees.”

While the time volunteering together is a great way for employees to enjoy each other’s company outside of work, Kinney volunteer work is also often a family affair, Mike said. (And he would know: his son’s basketball team has come in to make sandwiches and his daughter served as my intern, helping us organize our first Anti-Hunger Summit.)

“If families want to join in, we love having them there,” Mike said. “In fact, this last time Tim Kinney, our founder, brought his wife, his daughter and his grandkids along with a bunch of people from the company. It was awesome.”

Mountain Mojo Group: ‘People First’ in Action

Mountain Mojo Group has made monthly dinner service part of the rhythm of their team.

The marketing agency’s connection to FFFC has a long history; several current and past employees grew up volunteering at FFFC, and those long-standing relationships made it feel natural for Mountain Mojo to step in as a group, said Mariah Zavala, Business Development Specialist.

Volunteering also fit perfectly with the company’s culture, she added.

“At Mountain Mojo, we talk a lot about being people-first,” she said. “Volunteering with FFFC allows us to live that value in a very real way – by supporting the individuals and families who make up the community we work in and love.”

She also said volunteering helps strengthen the team.

“Volunteering gives us space to connect outside of client work and daily deadlines,” she said. “It strengthens our sense of shared purpose and reminds us that our work exists within a broader community. For any organization looking to strengthen team connection while giving back in a tangible way, FFFC is an incredible partner.”

Kinney, Desert Financial, and Mountain Mojo are proof that volunteering as a team isn’t just good for the community — it’s good for the people doing it. It strengthens teams and creates the kind of shared purpose that no team-building exercise can manufacture.

We have opportunities for groups to volunteer in our kitchen, in our warehouse, and our neighborhood distributions throughout the year. Whether your team is five people or fifty, there is a place for you here.