Over a million meals have been served by the Flagstaff Family Food
Center (FFFC) since it opened its doors on Christmas Day 1991. But its roots in helping those in need go back even further. The center’s founder George McCullough, who used to run McCullough Insurance, founded the FFFC after seeing how many people in Flagstaff could use a helping hand.

“George would hand them a card that would give them a free meal at the Grand Canyon Cafe,” says Steve Saville, president of the Board of Directors of the FFFC. “After a while he was feeding quite a few
people in town.”

When McCullough retired from the insurance business he founded the
FFFC and ran it until his death last year. Now his son Tim McCullough, also of McCullough Insurance, serves on the FFFC board and George’s grandchildren are among the thousands of volunteers at the Flagstaff Family Food Center.

“He felt the need to help others. That’s just the kind of guy he was,”
says Tim McCullough. “He thought that’s just how it’s supposed to be.”

“[George] leased the property to the Flagstaff Family Food Center for $5 a year. None of us knew that. That was anonymous,” says Saville. “This man was buying life insurance policies and letting our clients spend the equity, paying for medical bills, putting people up in
hotels. All of this out of his own pocket and we as a board had no
idea he was doing all this.”

With years of hard work George McCullough led the efforts that turned the FFFC into the thriving center it is today. Now instead of helping a handful of people at a time, McCullough’s center helps 150-300 men, women and children every day.

“We require nothing. You don’t have to go to church or chapel. No
questions are asked. You just show up in line to eat,” says Saville.

The Flagstaff Family Food Center simply opens its doors and serves a hot, nutritional meal every day of the year from 4-5:30pm. During that 90 minutes, they also provide a reading area/group for children
(which serves 700-800 children a month), homework assistance, free
clothing, and when they can, vouchers for hotels for people in need of
a place to sleep. Most of the clients are among Flagstaff’s working
poor.

“We serve a lot of families and children. Usually, the same people
that are just looking for that one meal a day,” says Saville.

“Because of the reading room, we give children a safe place to come
too. They are able to interact with positive volunteers and get some
one on one attention that they might not otherwise receive at home,”
says Hannah Dunn, Associate Director of the Flagstaff Family Food
Center. “The food center is here for the children, especially the
children in this Sunny Side neighborhood. We have a lot of kids that
come here on their own. We provide that safe place for them and help to keep them off the streets.”

To assist all these people, the Flagstaff Family Food Center relies on
the goodwill of local businesses. Every single grocery store in
Flagstaff helps the center to survive with large daily donations. In
all, the FFFC estimates over $600,000 worth of food is donated by
grocers and restaurants every year.

“If we had to pay for that food, we’d never be able to provide this
service,” says Saville. “It’s such a critical component.”

Other local businesses pitch in too. Bookmans donates books for the
children’s reading center. Recently Pearsall Poole Refrigeration
donated all the labor for the installation of the center’s new walk in
freezer, something they were in desperate need of so they can keep all the perishable foods they’re given. Many other businesses and
community groups have fundraisers and/or donate supplies when needed. An anonymous donor recently gave $10,000 for emergency housing (such as a night’s stay in a hotel room) for the center’s clients.

“Without the support of dozens of businesses over the years, I don’t
know how we’d do it,” says Saville. “We put out our needs to our huge volunteer network and are able to get what we need.”

Another huge factor in making the Flagstaff Family Food Center
possible – the enormous amount of volunteers – 4000-5000 people every year lend a hand. Compare that to the less than ten paid employees and it is apparent how invaluable the volunteers are. In fact, they rack up more volunteer hours per year in Flagstaff than any other organization.

Most service-based organizations in town have volunteers helping out
at the center at some point during the year, many on repeat basis.
Everyone from NAU fraternities and professors to churches and
community groups contributes some sort of volunteer work at the center.

“To me, that’s the magic of the place. People from any walk of life
can get engaged in this process. Everyone can bring something that no one else can” to help the people who count on the FFFC, says Saville. “This is a place where you put time, energy and effort into it and you can see your impact immediately.”

For more information about the Flagstaff Family Food Center visit www.hotfood.org.