Funds to Feed Grantee: The Arizona Kosher Food Pantry

The Arizona Kosher Food Pantry works to reduce hunger and poverty in Greater Phoenix. It is the only kosher pantry in the region, ensuring kosher food is available to the sick, homeless, elderly, and those enduring hard times. Families can receive groceries at its weekly walk-in pantry. The organization also provides kosher “Get Well” meals to those undergoing medical procedures at local hospitals and delivers weekly meals to those who are disabled, elderly, or unable to leave their homes. While it predominantly serves those in the Jewish community who adhere to a kosher diet, the Arizona Kosher Food Pantry serves anyone in need, regardless of religion. 

The Arizona Kosher Food Pantry has received more than $133,000 in Funds to Feed grants since 2021. Funding has predominantly helped to purchase food and support staffing costs to coordinate the food pantry. This support has been critical because kosher food is costly to purchase and prepare and, in many cases, it can cost double.

In 2023 alone, the grant helped the Arizona Kosher Food Pantry to serve more than 500 meals to an average of 85 Phoenix families per month. Clients’ favorite meals include salmon, wraps, pasta, and chili. Unfortunately, the Arizona Kosher Food Pantry continues to see a real need for its services across Phoenix. “People don’t want to know about food insecurity, but it’s very common and it’s not getting any better,” Rabbi Yecheskel Friedman, the founder of Ezras Cholim and the Arizona Kosher Food Pantry, shares. 

Addressing food security has always been top of mind for Rabbi Friedman. As an eight-year-old growing up in New York City, he would often give his lunch away to classmates who didn’t have food to eat. Eventually, his mother caught on to what he was doing and started making several bagged lunches daily to bring to other children. 

Rabbi Friedman emphasizes the importance of compassion in this work. “If you don’t have compassion, kindness won’t do anything. We don’t judge; we have compassion for people’s circumstances.”