John van Hengel
Founder, St. Mary's Food Bank

Born in 1923 in Waupun, Wisconsin, John van Hengel created the concept of food banking. In 1965, van Hengel was volunteering at St. Vincent de Paul, collecting donations for the community dining room. Van Hengel learned that grocery storesdisposed of food with damaged packaging or was near expiration. Armed with this knowledge, van Hengel met with grocery store managers across the Valley, persuading them to donate the edible but unsalable food to St. Vincent de Paul. Soon van Hengel was receiving more food than one dining room could use.He approached St. Mary's Basilica with the idea of creating a central location where social service agencies could get the food they needed to serve their clients at no cost.

The response from St. Mary's was $3,000 and an abandoned building - the world's first food bank was born. In 1976 van Hengel established America's Second Harvest, the nation's largest domestic hunger-relief organization and in 1986 founded Food Banking Services, a consulting firm for food bank startups. Integral in the passing of the Good Samaritan Act, van Hengel changed the way the world looks at hunger and its relief.

Beverly Butler Damore
President and Chief Executive Officer

Beverly Butler Damore is active in the community, serving as a member of the St. Mary's Food Bank Alliance Board of Directors for six years before joining the staff as Chief Communications Officer in 2008. Damore is a founding partner of the Phoenix-based corporate communications company Option II Advisors, which specializes in public relations, Web site orchestration, management consulting, community relations, fundraising, and event coordination. Previously, Damore worked for the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation and while there, was named co-Interim Chief Executive Officer while also serving as the organization's Chief Operating Officer.

Damore's community involvement began as a reporter for the Tribune Newspapers, where she was responsible for covering Scottsdale and Mesa City Halls; growth and development; and urban affairs. She holds a Masters of Mass Communication degree from the Arizona State University Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communications and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Loyola Marymount University.

In addition to her board involvement with St. Mary's Food Bank Alliance, she is also a founding member of the ASU Craig and Barbara Barrett Honors College Dean's Advisory Board and serves as Vice Chair of NOAH, a non-profit organization focus on providing medical, dental and behavioral health service to underserved populations.

Rick Fresia
Chief Financial and Technology Officer

Rick Fresia recently moved back to the Phoenix area to join the Food Bank as its Chief Financial Officer in May 2008 after a nearly 20-year stint in the mountains of Colorado. He has 15 years experience as a CFO in companies large and small; privately held and publicly traded. After many years in the for-profit world, Rick is anxious to contribute to the continued success of the Food Bank. His desire to give back to the community has brought him to the Food Bank from the corporate world.

Rick earned a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from Bentley College in Waltham, Massachusetts and a Masters of Business Administration from Boston University. Rick and his wife Jan have three children: Matt and twins Hannah and Molly. He enjoys fitness, trap shooting and riding his Harley (including a 5,000 mile tour across the country during the summer of 2006).

Bryan Leeseberg
Chief Operations Officer

Sarah Stuckey
Chief Communications Officer

Sarah A. Stuckey has spent the majority of her career in non-profit leadership in the Valley before joining the staff as Chief Communications Officer in 2011. Stuckey is a founding partner of the Phoenix-based corporate communications company Option II Advisors, which specializes in public relations, management consulting, community relations, fundraising, and event coordination. Previously, Stuckey worked for the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation and while there, was named co-Interim Chief Executive Officer while also serving as the organization's Chief Financial Officer. She holds a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from Southern Methodist University.

Lisa Goin
Chief Philanthropy Officer

Chris Polityka
Chief People Officer

Sue Kaplan Anderson
Executive Assistant

Sue Kaplan Anderson, Executive Assistant at St. Mary's Food Bank Alliance, brings more than 20 years of clerical and administrative experience to the organization, having worked previously for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Phoenix, the Arizona Coalition Against Domestic Violence and the University of Hawaii. She also served in the United States Navy for six years as Communications Manager.

Sue, along with her husband, serves on their Neighborhood Community Block Watch as part of her desire to give back to the community. She enjoys supporting the food bank and its mission not only through her employment but through volunteer efforts with her husband and family.