I enjoy volunteering whenever I can. I had signed up to do some volunteer work with a team in…read moreanother country. But before heading out on our trip, we decided to come here first to do some team building so that we could get to know each other. Midwest Food Bank is a faith-based organization. Their mission is to alleviate hunger and malnutrition locally and throughout the world and provide disaster relief. It is a great place for groups, families and individuals to come and volunteer at. Sign up is easy and they have daily shifts available to help pack and organize food boxes in their warehouse. They make it simple to find a shift that works best for your schedule. When you arrive and check in, Midwest Food Bank shows a video about the organization and explains how food will be packaged. Volunteers are then assigned to different stations. Because you are working with food, hand washing is required and so is wearing a hair net (they provide them). The staff here at Midwest Food Bank is great and they making volunteering fun. It is a great place to bring your kids too! Midwest Food Bank currently distributes nearly $40 million worth of food to over 2,200 non-profit organizations each month.

I recently visited your establishment for food, and while the overall experience was satisfactory,…read moreI encountered an issue upon returning my cart. I requested three complimentary chips, explaining that I had several children with me. The employee, who appeared to be around 63 years old, denied my request, stating that only one chip was permitted per customer and exhibiting a grumpy, angry, and unpleasant demeanor. This interaction occurred at approximately 10:30 AM.I saw a couple of people in front of me get 3 and 4 chips from him. It's not right for him to make the difference.

If you are a family with a child who has special needs, please be extremely cautious before using…read moreHouse of Refuge. I had lived there since June 2025 with zero issues, but everything changed the moment my son needed medical help. On 9/24/25, I informed them that my 14-year-old autistic son had been admitted to an inpatient psychiatric facility for suicidal ideations. Only two days later, on 9/26/25, staff member Sofia Spanarkel contacted me demanding that I sign over his private medical records. House of Refuge is not a medical or psychiatric facility and is not covered under HIPAA, so I asked for their specific concerns in writing. They never responded. Instead, without warning, I was issued a 30-day notice to vacate on 10/3/25. After months of having no issues, the timing makes the motive impossible to ignore. It felt like direct retaliation for refusing to hand over my child's sensitive medical information. When I submitted a formal complaint to the director, Kayla Kolar, I was not met with any explanation or concern--instead, I received an email stating that all communication must go through their lawyer. For a place that claims to support families in crisis, this response was deeply unsettling. Families dealing with medical emergencies deserve compassion and support, not intimidation or displacement. No parent should ever feel punished for protecting their child's privacy. Based on my experience, I strongly warn other families to think twice before relying on House of Refuge.

When you first get into the program you're assigned a case manager. They help with resources and…read morehandle your monthly housing inspections. I stayed here a couple of months, as the months went on case manager jeannie started asking questions that were very personal and uncomfortable. She was very unprofessional. It started to be awkward because she asked uncomfortable questions...so she scheduled over the phone meetings... There were a couple misunderstandings on her behalf. When they come into your home they're supposed to open cabinets and simply look for damage, or drugs and alcohol. (Luckily for me I don't drink or use drugs.) During a monthly inspection, Elasah went into my closet and touched my belongings...opening my brown paper bag with hair dye from sallys. (I'm assuming she thought she could find something in there lol) she continued going through my stuff...I have it on camera. Extremely unprofessional. CEO needs to reevaluate the case managers. They should have residents take surveys about their case managers so you can have some real input. Leasing Manager kim was SUPER helpful! Everyone at the donation center is nice and helpful, they're good people in there!

We adopted our pup friend in February. We have owned many dogs over the years and have dealt with…read moreseveral shelters. We have found that this shelter really cares about their pups, especially what type of home an adoptee is going to be part of. They do a great job of matching up their new family members. Our pup has become the BEST addition to our family. She was from a hoarding situ and was skittish, but she has become one of the sweetest family members we have ever had and we ADORE her! Valley Dogs is an extremely caring group that really does match up pups and their families. We are grateful they care so much about the pups in need! We highly recommend them for adopting your next family member. They truly are an awesome group!

Valley Dogs is a local rescue group run by the most compassionate people I have ever met. I have…read morefostered dogs for several local and non-local rescue groups including Valley Dogs, but what strikes me most about Valley Dogs is the animals they choose to pull from the shelters. Valley Dogs is run by a man named Michael West. From what I've observed, Michael chooses to take on the dogs that need the most help medically - the dogs hit by cars, obese owner surrenders, pregnant owner surrenders, older dogs with big hearts (figuratively) and medical conditions... I am not sure how he manages to finance all of this. Valley Dogs holds a few fund raisers through out the year, but I know the cost to get his dogs in good enough health to be adopted must be daunting. I can see the stress in his face every time I see him. However, he keeps pulling dogs in great need from the shelter because I don't think he can turn away. All of Valley Dogs rescues are fostered before they go up for adoption. This is a fantastic thing. Michael takes on a lot of these dogs. There is always a beautiful and kind red head (his wife?) that is with him at the adoptions and an older veteran as well. They foster a lot of the dogs, too. They know the quirks and idiosyncrasies of each of the dogs they foster. This helps with placement. I love this group. They are human, but they must be hidden angels because the dogs they are helping are the ones most definitely the most in need. They are very often at the PetsMart on 20th and Highland on the weekends trying to find homes for their dogs. If you see them and want a specific type of dog, I would imagine they would scour the shelters for you

Came here to the Mesa enter and was graciously greeted when the door opened at 9:00 a.m. I came…read moreduring Saturday hours.... As it was my first time I had to fill out a short form and show my drivers license or if you didn't have that you could bring a utility bill or picture ID.... Oh, I should mention your given a # as you enter the facility.... When your turn comes up a person is assigned to you to take you shopping.... When your finished the helper takes your groceries to your vehicle.... I opted for prayer before I left It was a wonderful experience and I'll eat well for the month.... Your welcome once a month to shop...

This place is amazing. This is a community outreach center that provides clothing and food and…read morehygiene to those struggling. My daughter and her best friend went there today to volunteer and had so much fun helping . They are excited to go back and help . They were so warm and welcoming and it truly is such a great place . My daughter is looking forward to volunteering their every weekend for fun because she enjoyed it so much

It was my first time to volunteer and I felt soooo good, knowing that I was part of a little…read morecommunity and helping others-- to make it happen! We were all pack the good bags for 3,000 bags and it was the fast track as everyone tried their bags to make sure everything went very well. The staffs here( at this location specifically) are super friendly and they are well organized which make the work run smoothly. If anyone looking for volunteering and not sure which one to start, try the United Food Bank, helping our community--together we can achieve more :) I will definitely be there again soon.

This is a partner food bank with United Way and we had the chance to volunteer here over the…read moreweekend. Our task was to sort foods into various categories in order for the Food Bank to be able to fill order requests for various distribution sites (such as other food banks, domestic violence centers, homeless shelters, etc.). Our shift was from 8 a.m. - 12 p.m. and everything was started on time with an intro into the purpose of the bank and the purpose of United Way overall. We broke out into "teams" and were assigned tasks from there and everything got underway. By 11 a.m. we had wrapped up all of the food needing to be sorted / boxed and we were able to leave early. Notes: wear weather appropriate clothes (it's not climate controlled) and wear closed toes shoes for safety Overall: A It's a charity and it's a chance to volunteer and give back - what's not to love??

2/14/26 Purpose…read more My study groups Team event. Fourteen of us from BCC did a Community volunteering activity to pack box food for children in need. Today we are focusing on specific overseas underserved villages and dietary needs of the children. Parking 5/5 Abundance of private parking Facilities 5/5 Very impressive building, large well suited for Feeding My Starving Children's mission. Teams which can be families, business teams etc may sigh-up in advance to be scheduled to participate in a meaningful and needed service for fighting hunger. Our day began in their Large group welcome and information room. Run by a great orator of their organization we learned what we were going to do and who would be receiving the product of our labor. Very nicely done! Surrounding this great room was the organizations special store. Items available for purchase were made in many of the countries they serve. Packing room 5/5 After dawning head and facial hair nets and gloves we were organized in sub team groups to a specific job. Activities/Effort 5:/5 in the progressive line from bulk dry food products to measuring, funnel dumping into bags to scale to add or remove product to meet bag weight requirements the to a sealing operation and final case building and taping. Teamwork 5:5 There must have been 8-10 teams with ~14 a team in a fun and motivational competition to maximize the Total food each two hour shift could produce. I enjoyed how our team with some ASU students developed teamwork that was flexible. Event take-away 10/5 Facts about food shortages and malnutrition are real. Child development is impacted both physically and psychologically. There are nations like ours who have organizations like Feed My Starving Children who have the networks, logistics, raw food based sources that utilize nutritional targets with environmentally stable ingredients. What we were shown today is the manual labor needed to meet the output requirements to feed those in need can be accomplished by organizing people of all colors, creeds and religions come together to serve a common goal, Feeding Starving Children. Everyone can benefit from moving out of your comfort zone by sacrificing 2-4 hrs to serve others, and to send a fundamental message to those around the world of Hope and Love through food. And in the process lean how you can work well with others from a wide spectrum of society for a higher cause. Get your families, work colleagues neighbors etc together and have fun helping! Be humble and gracious to others my friends-SYOY!

Amazing! Very structured, organized, and clean!…read more Employees were amazing and helpful. Only thing I suggest is maybe don't have a quiet person in the warehouse explaining how to do things without a mic- could barely hear her over the chatter of other groups and just static of the air. The introduction went smooth, warehouse is my favorite!!! Lots of moving around, heavy lifting, and quick thinking. This is a great organization to be part of if you want to volunteer, especially for a Christian business! They offer anyone who wants, to pray over the food boxes at the end of your shift (optional) they also have a "gift shop" which is all around you as you come in, so you can purchase goods made in other countries and know the labor is being fairly paid for! Everything priced well! 29¢ is what it takes to make one meal for a child, so every donation is significant, no matter how small! They're based off donations and don't take any assistance from the government, so any type of support you can give them is appreciated ! Attached is a picture of our ending numbers

Amazing dedicated people and Awesome organization! Well organized team!…read more This place has helped so many people around the world! Its Amazing! It is a blessing for local AZ residents to be able to volunteer with them. Never thought my few hours would change someone elses life. Great Volunteering opportunity! Thank you to All the people who work here and who volunteer their time to make it all happen

Great Organization to donate items to the needy. Love to help out. Always have a great time.read more

Free little library, rentable plots for gardening, gorgeous flower beds, & one of the best…read morerestaurants in Mesa: Republica Empanada! Beautiful and well maintained in our little urban oasis in Mesa, Az.

Video of the peaceful Mesa Urban Garden with water sounds, birds singing, colorful flowers and…read morebutterflies. Learn to grow today.

I'm not sure who is making the decisions for this nonprofit, but the recent changes have been…read morereally disappointing. This used to be a store where people with limited means could walk in and find something decent and affordable to wear. I don't understand how items that are donated for free are now being priced at $12. That feels like an excessive markup for a thrift store. Thrift stores are meant to serve community members who are struggling and help meet basic needs. Adding the word "vintage" to the name doesn't seem like it should justify doubling prices. It feels concerning that an organization that claims to support children may now be putting additional strain on families who are already having a hard time, especially when the merchandise is donated. The shift reminds me of the pricing philosophy at Goodwill Industries International, which is one reason I stopped shopping there. I used to be a weekly customer. Now I only stop in occasionally if I happen to be nearby. Overall, this has been very disappointing.

What happened here? It used to be so nice and well organized and now looks like a Goodwill…read moreClearance Center. The prices have increased and there's so.much chaos in the unorganized store. Please return back to normal. The boutique looked well put together that's where the 2 stars come in. The outside boutique area was overpriced for some damaged and rained on items.

Typically, after we try to sell a bunch of clothes, , things that we aren't able to do we know that…read morethey're still high quality and would like to see them go to the community where possible so a lot of our items end up being brought here. The best way to package everything is to put it in garbage bags to make it easier for the staff members to move, go through, and sort as needed. They are super friendly and the drop-off hours are Monday through Thursday from 10 AM to 2 PM.

This is the best family resources place for people who need assistance with clothing. shoes…read more Towels. Pillows. Bedding. Etc I highly recommend this place to everyone.