In the spring of 2026, members of the PITU Puow’wan Program started traveling down to volunteer at the Utah Food Bank once a month, taking along any other PITU employees who are able to join.
Gail Kite, PITU Family Service Advocate, coordinates the volunteers for these outings. She is also in charge of the Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP), which provides monthly food boxes to eligible families, along with recipe ideas.
Gail said that they chose the Utah Food Bank because food scarcity is a constant issue in our local area and volunteering at the Food Bank is a good way to give back to the community.
“Volunteering builds that empathy and habit in others as well,” she said.
Puow’wan Program manager Tamra Borchardt-Slayton added that volunteering also dovetails with PITU’s core values of community and service by “allowing us to give back to organizations that continuously support us.”
She mentioned the fact that the Utah Food Bank provides food for the CSFP program, school food pantries, and community resources to combat hunger.
“Knowing that these food kits will eventually reach our communities, including school-age children who are among our most vulnerable, fills my spirit with joy,” she said.
For Tamra, the act of service also goes back to her upbringing.
“Volunteering reflects the teachings I received as a child, to give selflessly and uplift others. Through this act of service, we honor our traditions of generosity, community care, and shared responsibility.”
Jacob Miner, who is the Utah Food Bank southern distribution director, said that although the volunteers only started coming in the spring, the relationship between PITU and the food bank goes back decades.
“We absolutely love and appreciate the relationship,” he said.
Jacob said that for every dollar donated to the Utah Food Bank, $.96 goes to the food and programs.
“There’s only a 4% administration cost,” he said. “And that’s highly due to the volunteer efforts that happen throughout the community.”
He said that last year, the southern Utah distribution region, which includes the five-county region of Washington, Iron, Garfield, Kane, and Beaver counties, recorded 37,000 volunteer hours, which would otherwise equate to having to double his staff.
“That would be 18 full time employees, and that’s just something our budget doesn’t allow for.”
In other words, he said, “we simply just could not run our programs without great volunteer groups and efforts like you guys have been doing.”
Jacob said that if other members of the community are interested in volunteering at the warehouse on River Road in St. George, the best way to do so is call the volunteer team at 435-656-9122. However, he said anyone is welcome to just show up a half-hour early to volunteer at one of the mobile pantries or partner pantries (more information at https://www.utahfoodbank.org/give/give-time/)
To see the full photo gallery from the event, click here.