Grand Paws Pet Sitting & Grooming Service will take donations for a "Bark Bank" dog food bank from 7 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Aug. 17 at the Shell gas station and car wash at Power and Guadalupe roads in Mesa.

Food donations at Scottsdale’s only emergency assistance center have dropped by 50 percent since the Vista del Camino Community Center has moved to its less recognizable and temporary spot.

As the holiday season rapidly approaches, businesses and food banks are seeking donations to make sure everyone has enough to eat.

When life gets busy, returning library books can become a low priority, and those fines really add up. If you are a Tempe resident whose tab is preventing you from checking out more books, you can wipe your slate clean by donating non-perishable food until Dec.31.

Demonstrating its commitment to giving to others, Primrose School of Ahwatukee recently helped feed hungry families throughout the Phoenix area. On Nov. 15 the preschoolers donated more than 45,620 food items to St. Vincent de Paul.

Joining forces, the students and families of Gilbert's Val Vista Lakes Elementary School helped the hungry by adding to the food supply at Mesa's United Food Bank. The student council-sponsored food drive netted 1,345 pounds of food, which means 1,012 meals for hungry Arizonans. The grade-level challenge was won by the second grade.

As part of its Bringing Hope to the Table campaign, Fry's Food Stores donated a semi-truck full of food to United Food Bank on Thursday.

Phoenix-area Ford dealerships will collect donations of nonperishable food through Nov. 28 to contribute to Mesa’s United Food Bank. The Children’s Museum of Phoenix will assist by providing one free general admission ticket to the Children’s Museum to each person who donates three nonperishable food items at any local Ford dealerships. The tickets will be redeemable at the during December. Valley residents may also drop off three nonperishable food items at the Ford display at the Arizona International Auto Show at the Phoenix Convention Center Nov. 25-28.

Ford Motor Company and Newman's Own awarded a refrigerated Ford F-550 to Mesa's United Food Bank last week.

Members of Holy Trinity Lutheran Church are donating more than 1,000 pounds of food to the Chandler CARE Center this week , the largest donation of the year, said Susan Horan, the center’s director.

Scottsdale’s Vista del Camino social services center will receive 12 tons of food donated July 18 by participants in the 33rd annual Mighty Mud Mania obstacle course event, city parks and recreation officials announced.

The edible stock at Vista del Camino Community Center's food bank is going down, but the cupboard is not quite bare ... yet.

In response to a nationwide shortage of food and groceries in food banks, Wal-Mart announced United Food Bank in Mesa will receive a truck filled with food as part of a nationwide donation providing more than 3 million meals to the needy.

With Thanksgiving fast approaching, Vista del Camino Community Center still needs help putting food on the tables of 150 Scottsdale families.

Poverty isn’t a word usually associated with Scottsdale, where the median household income is estimated at more than $61,000. That’s why a midyear call for donations to help fill shelves of the city’s food bank might surprise some people.

Cranberries, stuffing, green bean casserole, yams, mashed potatoes and . . . tuna fish. Many of the Valley's less fortunate may end up eating something other than turkey this Thanksgiving because of a lack of donations this holiday season.