ACF of Sedona

At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, ACF created local community response funds to provide immediate relief funding to area nonprofit organizations. Local philanthropists contributed to these funds and recommended additional grants from their ACF advised funds to ensure our communities were supported.

In Sedona and the Verde Valley, accessing healthy food is an ongoing challenge for many residents. Manzanita Outreach is one of the fastest growing food assistance providers in the area.

Prior to the pandemic, Manzanita Outreach was serving around 1,500 households per month. In May 2020, they served nearly 6,500 households. As a mobile outreach organization built on community relationships, Manzanita Outreach delivers food to remote communities via drive-thru food sharing events, senior and emergency food boxes, and home delivery and sustenance assistance programs. Partnerships with the Yavapai County Red Cross, Prescott Salvation Army, and Department of Emergency and Military Affairs enabled the organization to scale at the onset of COVID-19.

Funding from ACF of Sedona and ACF of Yavapai County helped Manzanita Outreach move to an exclusively contactless format, hire part-time staff to expand food-packing capacity, and implement the Farmers to Families Food Box Program. This program delivers free pre-packaged boxes with fresh produce and dairy to families in rural communities throughout northern Arizona.

Image by Larry Kane