TUCSON, Ariz. — There's good news for the Southern Arizona Animal Food Bank. Earlier this year, we told you they were forced to find a new location because their rent was going up. Now, they're opening a brand new space in Midtown.
To kick off the month of June, the director, Donna DeConcini cut the ribbon at 4444 E. Grant, Suit 116.
"This is our new location, our permanent location, where we extend to anyone who is in need of animal food to keep their animals at home. Welcome," she proudly said.
Their new rent is around $1,000 a month, a far cry from the $5,000 they were facing. DeConcini knew that money would be better spent on spaying and neutering animals, giving them shots, and paying for pet food.
"It was a no-brainer that we had to find someplace else. But it was really difficult," she said.
She says they didn't know where to start, so she sat down with KGUN 9's Claire Graham, who put out a call for help. After their story aired on Good Morning Tucson, thankfully brokers started calling.
"If it wasn't for you, we wouldn't have had 10 people call me and ask me to come take a look at properties," DeConcini said. "When I told you about it and you said, 'Let me help, let's see what we can do,' that's when the ball got rolling, because I didn't know where to look."
Now, the new building is bringing new opportunities.
There's no longer a gallery store for local vendors. Instead, there's a small shop with pet supplies. There's space for all the food, an actual office for the volunteers to process orders faster, and room to expand.
"We have the Tucson Action Team," DeConcini explained. "They're joining us, and they do spay and neuters and legislation, and we're doing food and wellness checks, so it's like we're joined forces together. So they have an office here."
There's also space to pursue their new endeavors, as the food bank looks to hold clinics adoption events.
"The owners of the property are really excited about us being able to bring more people to this area," DeConcini said.
Sergio Guayante owns Lesco Optical, two doors down from the food bank in the same shopping center.
"I'm very excited to have the Southern Arizona Animal Food Bank here in our location," he said. "We've been here for 40 years, and we're excited to see all the new people that are coming here, as well as all the beautiful animals that they're bringing to this area. So we're very, very happy to see them. And we're really here to help. We're going to try to do some things with the organization and try to help raise money."
In the last five years, the food bank has helped more than 43,000 families. On opening day in their new location, they gave out more than 300 pounds of pet food.
DeConcini says she's looking forward to putting that would-be rent money into helping to solve the overcrowding crisis in our local shelters.
"So any money that we get in, is headed right to the pot for spays and neutering, and also for shots," she said. "We did 60 puppies from January to April, 60 puppies! And most of those puppies were found in the desert. In fact, Macy, who is my foster dog, she was found in the desert with six puppies. And so, we need to be able to get to the problem, and that's spays and neutering, and that's what we're going to try and do this year."
Yes, Macy is up for adoption. DeConcini says she's a very loyal girl, who is a great snuggler. She's just one of the many positive impacts DeConcini and the Southern Arizona Animal Food Bank are working to have.
"We ended up with the perfect, perfect place for us to be," she said.
If you're interested in supporting the animal food bank, they're currently accepting pet food donations, and monetary donations. They're also looking for volunteers who can help them drive to distributions, and who can coordinate volunteers. To get in touch with them, you can email info@saafb.org or call (520) 268-7299. You'll find their new location at 4444 E. Grant, Suit 116, just east of Swan.
Claire Graham is an anchor and reporter for KGUN 9. She grew up in Tucson and graduated from the University of Arizona with a degree in musical theatre. Claire spent a decade in Washington state, where she worked in journalism, met her husband and welcomed their baby boy, before moving back home. Share your story ideas and important issues with Claire by emailing claire.graham@kgun9.com or by connecting on Facebook and X.
