Alma Anderson and her husband Akili bought a home in Rancho Sahuarita in 2009, after moving to Arizona from San Jose, California. “We immediately fell in love with what Sahuarita had to offer,” she says. “We moved to Rancho Sahuarita because we wanted to live in a community that is family-friendly and had a good educational system.”
The Andersons enjoy the family enrichment events and activities that Rancho Sahuarita organizes for residents, especially for their two children, six-year-old Azani and four-year-old Amina. A couple years ago, Alma began attending the early morning exercise classes offered by the Clubhouse, and as a family the Andersons frequently hike together.
In her free time, Alma volunteers with the Sahuarita Food Bank. She became involved one year ago, initially as a bilingual shopping assistant and later as part of the food/fundraising committee. “As a busy stay-at-home-mom, volunteering was difficult, so I began by translating flyers and forms. Later, I volunteered for food distributions and got to know the clients that visit the food bank. I came to see the importance of families having their basic needs met in our community,” she says.
According to Alma, the Sahuarita Food Bank will serve over 700 clients this holiday season. “The Sahuarita Food Bank strengthens our community by helping our neighbors,” Alma says. “The need here is so local.”
Supporting her neighbors is important to Alma in part because the sense of community is one of her favorite parts of living in Rancho Sahuarita. Everyone is very collaborative, she says, organizing block parties, worshipping together, playing bunco, and cheering on their children at soccer games. “The best part of living in Rancho Sahuarita is having great neighbors, and their willingness to make our community better by sharing their talents,” she says.
To learn more about the Sahuarita Food Bank, visit SahuaritaFoodBank.org.