Our Programs
Annually, we...
--Distribute
over 5 million pounds of food...
--Serve 50,000 families...
--Provide over 4 million meals...
--Distribute hundreds of cords of
wood...
...all because of generous people like you!
SWICF PROGRAMS:
The Northern Arizona Food Bank, in Flagstaff Arizona, established in 1986, does the fulfillment for SWICF, serving Native American Indians: Navajo, Hopi, Hualapai, Yavapai, Apache, and Saupi.
SWICF provides emergency food boxes, truckloads of fresh fruit and vegetables, bread, milk, clothing, and water barrels, blankets, and firewood to needy American Indians on Reservations throughout the southwest every year.
EMERGENCY FOOD BOXES.
These food boxes contain approximately $50 to $60 worth of nutritious food. The box is filled with many staples, imperishable items such as: cereals, canned vegetables, soups, macaroni; along with perishable items such as: potatoes, raw vegetables, and some meat: chicken, fish, or lunch meat. At Thanksgiving and Christmas, the food boxes include a turkey.
GLEANING PROGRAMS.
For 10 months a year, in southwest Arizona, the farmers grow fruits and vegetables. During this period, the farmers donate millions of pounds of fruit and vegetables to be distributed to those in need. Many of those are Native Americans. Our 3 semi trucks pick up truckload after truckload and distribute these nutritional, lifesaving foods to our 160 projects on the Indian Reservations, chapter houses, schools, senior centers and churches. The Indians come whenever a load arrives and pick up bags and boxes of the nutritious fruits and vegetables.
WINTER CLOTHING AND BLANKETS.
Our clothing and blanket program is vital to the welfare and future of the Original Americans. Countless children have dropped out of school in the past because they were ridiculed for wearing old, torn clothing. We do our best to provide brand-new clothing to keep the children in school learning how to prepare for a better future. We provide warm blankets because many people live in dilapidated housing, made of scraps of wood, tin and mud. The wind whistles through the cracks in the house (cracks so big you can see the outside through them!). Many people sleep on the floor with only a blanket to separate them from the cold. Pneumonia, the flu, colds and other ailments can be prevented with the help of a warm blanket.
WATER BARRELS.
Turning on a faucet to get water is something that most of us take for granted. But 51% of the homes on the Navajo Reservation lack complete plumbing. That's about 29,099 homes. Some families travel as much as 100 miles to obtain water from a public watering hole, filling every container they can find with the precious commodity. Some people use pots and pans, empty jars, even old paint buckets and gasoline cans! This water is then used for drinking, cooking, bathing, washing dishes, and laundry. For just $15, SWICF provides a clean, sanitary water barrel for the needy to prevent contact with parasites that can cause potentially fatal diseases.
FIREWOOD.
We have distributed nearly 3 million pounds of wood FREE OF CHARGE, and considering the high cost of propane and utilities, our free firewood program is even more critical than in the past. Beginning in the summer, the elderly ask if we are going to have enough wood to give them for the winter. They are very worried that there will not be enough. Many must choose which necessity of life they will do without: food, medicine, gas to go to the doctor, or wood to keep their homes warm and their families from getting sicker or freezing to death.
BICYCLES AND TOYS FOR CHRISTMAS.
When families can't afford the necessities of life, a bicycle or toy is an unnecessary luxury. If a child does happen to have some money, it goes to help feed the family. At SWICF, we believe that every child should have a toy and we've been honored to provide brand-new bicycles and toys for hundreds of needy boys and girls.
