The Tucson Indian Center has launched its first food drive in partnership with the Community Food Bank, aiming to help local families affected by recent cuts to food assistance and build stronger community connections.

The center has been around for decades, starting out as a Native American Club in 1957. In 1963, the club incorporated as the American Indian Association, doing business as the Tucson Indian Center.

It offers programs for youth and older adults, job services, education programs, cultural activities, and emergency assistance.

The drive runs through next Friday. The idea started small, when Client Services and Support Specialist Monique Ugaitafa asked her coworkers to bring in extra goods they had lying around at home.

Following Ugaitafa’s lead, Grants and Services Manager for Health Services Adam Fernandez rallied his rugby team to join the effort. The drive was a huge success, collecting enough food to feed at least 50 families.

This inspired the center to incorporate food drives as a regular part of its outreach

“We’re in the planning stages of starting a food committee so that they can coordinate enough food drives on a consistent basis, and right now this is the best time because it’s the holiday season,” Ugaitafa told Tucson Spotlight. “We’re hoping to have more donations and not turn people away.”

Anyone is welcome to donate and can drop off nonperishable items at the center, located at 160 N. Stone Ave. Every person who donates will be entered into a raffle for a family fun pass to Skate Country.

The center serves mostly tribally enrolled Indigenous people. To receive food, people need to bring their tribal identification. If eligible, they’ll receive a box full of canned goods, frozen protein items from the food bank, and fresh produce when available.

“I believe it connects with the mission because it helps support our community members in need,” Ugaitafa said. “We want to provide for our community, our Indigenous folks, our urban Indigenous folks, as well as those who are not tribally enrolled.”

The center hopes the drive helps build new connections in the community and brings people in to volunteer or use the many services offered.

So far, more than 400 items have been donated.

“I grew up with a lot of food insecurities,” Ugaitafa said. “There were a lot of days where I would go to school hungry. Something as simple as me not eating every day, not having the proper nutrition, it led to mental illnesses that I am having to make up for today and fix myself.”

TIC is planning to host another food drive sometime in October, once its food committee is up and running, to help people during the holiday season.

At its heart, the center strives to be more than just a resource center, Ugaitafa said

“There are a lot of negatives and bad in this world, there are a lot of people who have to fight just to survive and exist,” Ugaitafa said. “I believe that food shouldn’t be one of them.

McKenna Manzo is a University of Arizona alum and Tucson Spotlight intern. Contact her at mckennamanzo@arizona.edu.

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