At a midtown Tucson dirt lot, meals are served and community is built | Local news

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Arianna Jimenez, left, chief organizer, hands Terry Stump a package of socks at The Lot, 4431 E. 22nd St., in Tucson. The Lot, a group of volunteers led by Jimenez, provides freshly prepared dinners to the needy every Thursday and Sunday.

Photos by Rebecca Sasnett / Arizona Daily Star

Until Sunday Joyahnnah Holland for the Arizona Daily Star

For nine years, everyone who needs a meal has found the Lot on 22nd every Thursday and Sunday.

Whatever the weather, community people such as veterans, those at risk, newcomers to Tucson, families, or those without a home can dine for two hours on both days at The Lot, a dirt field next to heavy traffic – heavy road in Tucson.

The Margo Fire burned through salt cedar in the San Pedro River and burned 12 buildings in Dudleyville, north of Tucson, on April 8, 2021. State Route 77 was closed south of the city. Video by Rick Wiley / Arizona Daily Star

Rick Wiley

Joseph Duran, 44, has returned to The Lot since moving from New Mexico to Tucson over the past four years.

“One day I woke up in a downtown park and saw palm trees and trees and looked around and said to everyone, ‘Hey, where am I? Am I in heaven? ‘ And they say, ‘Welcome to Tucson!’ ”Said Duran, who sat in his wheelchair after unloading food on Sunday March 28th.

He found The Lot when he came over one day and checked what was going on.

“They said they gave free food to the needy and I said, ‘Oh cool,'” said Duran. “It changed me a lot. Because I didn’t like Tucson before, but they show love and they really don’t criticize anyone. “

Mark Bloom has been a volunteer at The Lot for over five years and loves the informality of it all.

“There’s no one who isn’t allowed to get to the Lot, the only rules we have that aren’t published at all are … we won’t have any fights on the property,” said Bloom. “It’s people who help people, people who help people without judgment.”

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