The Food Bank of Tombstone is stretching to meet greater demands brought on by the national economic crisis. Luckily for them, a new building and better equipment is making their goal of feeding families in need a little bit easier.

Since moving to their new location, 515 San Diego St. in November, their customer base has swelled.

“I would say we’ve tripled in the last eight months,” said Jerre Johnson, board member for the Food Bank of Tombstone.

The food bank has between 80 and 250 Tombstone families that use their resources.

To qualify to receive goods, families must register with the food bank each year and show a photo I.D. to prove they are residents of Tombstone. Each family can visit the food bank twice per month.

The building was funded by state and federal grants, totaling about $400,000, said Carol Dike, the food bank treasurer.

In addition to the bigger building, the food bank got more shelving, two freezers and two refrigerators.

Now they’re trying to fill all that space with food. Safeway in Sierra Vista donates deli goods and Fry’s donates bread. Churches and other organizations in Tombstone and surrounding areas also donate food and the government delivers food once a month. However, President Mary Seifert said that does not cover their needs.

“We couldn’t survive without the people here in town. It’s absolutely amazing for a small community like this to pitch in like they do,” Seifert said. “I have people asking me every week, ‘Mary, can I work here?’”

They have plenty of volunteers, but Johnson said the problem is that people do not think they are in need of donations.

“Some people have this misconception that we are funded by the… government– we are not. We are trying to alleviate this misconception,” Johnson said.

Dike agreed.

“Most of our community thinks that most of the food in the food bank comes from the government, but it’s not,” Dike said. “The Department of Agriculture only gives us a sack of rice, a sack of beans and three cans of vegetables per month.”

Johnson said another misconception is that they are supported by the Tucson Food Bank. She said that the Tucson Food Bank helped them write grants for their building and they are covered by the Tucson Food Bank’s insurance, but they operate independently.

The food bank not only relies on food donations from the community to fill their shelves, but also money.

“You also need to brush your teeth, wipe your bottom, wash your dishes – stuff like that. We purchase that (household necessities) with our donation money,” Johnson said.

Seifert explained that the food bank also accepts clothing – especially baby clothes, coats, jackets and jeans – but they have limited space to store them.

The Food Bank of Tombstone is open Thursday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., Friday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Saturday 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.