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In the late 1960s, when John van Hengel, a retired businessman in Phoenix, Arizona began volunteering at a local soup kitchen, he began soliciting food donations for the kitchen.
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John took a vow of poverty upon starting his life in Phoenix. John began working at Immaculate Heart Church in Phoenix where he drove the bus and coached sports. In 1975 John accepted a $50,000 federal grant which would be utilized to establish eighteen food banks across America. In 1976 John left St. Mary’s Food Bank and established Second Harvest (now known as Feeding America).
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200 food banks that feed more than 46 million people through food pantries, soup kitchens, shelters, and other community-based agencies.
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The economy may be improving since the Great Recession, but the recovery is still leaving many of Americans who were hit the hardest behind. Millions of people are still struggling to get by because of underemployment, stagnant wages and rising costs of living. In fact, more than 46 million people still turn to the Feeding America network each year for extra support.
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