Welcome to St. Leo Food Connection!

Pierce County's Largest Food Bank

From our beginnings in a Hilltop garage in 1982 to today, the St. Leo Food Connection has been a consistent source of nutritious food and caring for people in need throughout Pierce County.

We operate:

• the St. Leo Food Bank, one of the largest food banks in Pierce County.
• the Springbrook Mobile Food Bank, which serves 150-175 households in Lakewood's Sprinbrook neighborhood every Saturday.
• a Backpack Program that provides two days worth of kid-friendly food to more than 430 Tacoma Public School students at 14 schools on Fridays throughout the school year.
• numerous Summer Meals sites in Tacoma, Lakewood and Burlington, providing children 18 and younger with lunch and a snack on weekdays throughout the summer.
• the Sutherland Orchard, which provides organic apples and berries for our clients.
• Leo's Garden, a demonstration and community garden located at the St. Leo Food Connection.
• and staffing for the Pierce County Gleaning Project.
  Click here for video from the Pierce County Gleaning Project.

We take pride in distributing nutritious food, realizing that our clients are among society's most vulnerable: Over 50 percent of our clients at both the St. Leo Food Bank and the Springbrook Mobile Food Bank are children and the elderly. These populations are the most affected by a compromised diet. We require no proof of need from our clients, serving all Pierce County residents who come to us. However, we are required by some of our funders to track specific demographic information - specifically our clients' addresses by zip code and the age of household members. We are also required to ask that clients sign The Emergency Food Assistance Program's self-declaration since we include federal commodities in the food we distribute.

More Than Just Food

Hunger impacts every aspect of a person's life. The food we provide our clients does more than help them meet their families’ nutritional needs. Emergency food assistance helps people maintain their housing and succeed in work and school by helping households better utilize their limited resources.