I am saddened I have to write this review, but the truth must be heard about this agency.
Today, October 1st, 2019 in the hour of 11 am my husband and I came to get an emergency food box. This is our second time going here in 5 years of living in Arizona. To be honest this is our second time going to a food bank in our entire lives.
They gave us food for our family of three. They discovered I was pregnant and said someone just donated baby items that they were just going to lay on the street for someone to grab. They said I could take whatever baby items I wanted. So, my husband and I took a new car seat and baby swing.
As we were putting things in our car, a volunteer named Ron approached us with such hate and disgust. My husband was packing up the food and didn't realize the crate was not what we could keep our food in. So, Ron accused my husband of stealing. I tried to inform him that we didn't realize that there were additional boxes we were suppose to put our food in to take home because no one informed us. However, we did know that the carts were Matthews Crossing's property because it had a sticker on it stating that, but the crates didn't say anything on it.
So, we got the boxes like he said to put the food in and then returned the crate and cart to him. As we returned it we tried to be polite and introduce ourselves by telling him this was our second time here and we didn't know that the crate was for us to keep the food in. We also tried to inform him this decision was based off the fact the crate didn't say Matthew's Crossing Property like the cart did. Lastly, we tried to politely explain that no one explained the process to us so we didn't know.
Toward the end of my conversation with him as I tried to explain that he kept being extremely rude telling us with anger that we needed to share with others, turned his back on us, and started to walk away.
It was extremely humiliating, but it gets worse....
I went inside to ask how can I submit a complaint about the volunteer Ron's behavior towards us. They pointed me toward the director who was present a few feet away from me. She overheard that I wanted to submit a complaint so as I walked to her she wouldn't even make eye contact with me as if I was a charity case she didn't even want to converse with.
I proceeded to tell her what happened. She made excuses for his behavior by saying, "He's just a volunteer." As well, she said, "He is suppose to look out for the carts." The tone she had was as if I don't know what to tell you kind of tone. I then told her no matter his title the agency must treat everyone with kindness and compassion, especially if he took the incident as a misunderstanding of us trying to steal a cheap crate.
As I was telling the director, Bonnie, a volunteer, jumped in the conversation with such anger. She proceeded to tell me verbatim, "Well I think we've been very kind to you giving you food and stuff for your baby." Right when Bonnie made that statement that is when my husband walked in. He heard the conversation and what was going on from that point. I then proceeded to tell Bonnie that the agency had been very nice, which we are grateful for, but I told her that Ron should not be treating people in that manner.
She then rolled her eye, huffed her breath, and had an attitude. She tried to say something else to me, but the director told her to stop as if she feared what Bonnie was saying was inappropriate. I could also see it in the directors eyes as if she was spooked and hoping I didn't hear what Bonnie just said. Honestly, the last comment Bonnie tried to make I couldn't make out.
In brief, I walked out and said I would never be back.
The lack of compassion and kindness is disheartening the way the agency handled Ron's behavior. Obviously, Ron's behavior was not their behavior, but how they handled gave my husband and I a image of how the agency is as a whole.
The agency will treat you any way because they are giving you things and do not have a standard of respect to people in the time of need. read more
