Project Isaiah is the Jewish community’s annual High Holidays food and fund drive benefiting the Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona. The project is named for the Prophet Isaiah, who, when asked why we fast on Yom Kippur, responded, “Is it not to share your bread with the hungry?” (Isaiah 58:7).
In Southern Arizona, one in 7 people and one in 5 children are food insecure – that’s over 1 million people who face hunger.
With resource centers in Amado, Green Valley, Nogales, and Tucson, the Community Food Bank provides food assistance in five Southern Arizona counties, working with 400 community partners, including 250 food distribution partners. It provides food through 34 school pantries, serving more than 80,000 children.
In 2025, Jewish Philanthropies of Southern Arizona collaborated with eleven Jewish congregations and organizations to provide 11,000 meals to the Community Food Bank. The organizations and synagogues that participated in 2025 are Congregation Anshei Israel, Congregation Beit Simcha, Congregation Bet Shalom, Chabad Jewish Center of Vail, Congregation Chaverim, Handmaker, Jewish Family & Children’s Services of Southern Arizona, JPSA, Kol Ami Synagogue, Tucson Hebrew Academy, Tucson Jewish Community Center, and Tucson Jewish Museum & Holocaust Center.
Food Donations: 2,612 meals
Food donations totaled 3,135 pounds, which allowed the food bank to provide 2,612 meals to Southern Arizonans facing food insecurity (1.2 pounds = 1 meal).
Fund Donations: 8,388 meals
JPSA collected $2,796 in fund donations. A donation of $1 can provide 3 meals; funds collected by Project Isaiah provided 8,388 meals for the Community Food Bank to distribute.
To find out how your organization can participate in 2026, contact Randi Levin at [email protected].
