John Arnold van Hengel (February 21, 1923 – October 5, 2005) was a grassroots activist and entrepreneur credited as being the "Father of Food Banking". In 1967, van Hengel founded St. Mary's Food Bank, the world's first food bank in Phoenix, Arizona. He would later go on to create Feeding America, helping to spread the food banking concept across the United States, and eventually the rest of the world. Early years John van Hengel was born in Waupun, Wisconsin. Of Dutch ancestry, he was the son of a nurse and the town pharmacist. He graduated from Lawrence College in Appleton, Wisconsin with a degree in Government. There, He was a member of Delta Tau Delta fraternity. John then attended graduate school at University of Wisconsin but moved to Southern California before finishing. Spending time as a self-described "first-rate beach bum", van Hengel moved on to study broadcasting at UCLA. His odd jobs included driving a beer truck in Beverly Hills, designing plastic rainwear, a sales manager for Bear Archery and a magazine publicist. John married a model and had two sons. In 1960 his marriage ended in divorce, and he headed back to Wisconsin and went to work in a rock quarry. He became partially paralyzed while breaking up a bar fight. He was sent to Arizona for rehabilitation through the guidance of Barrows Neurological Institute. John regained his strength swimming laps in a YMCA swimming pool and at the age of 44 became the oldest public lifeguard in Phoenix, Arizona. Start of the Food Bank journey John took a vow of poverty upon starting his life in Phoenix. A devout Catholic, John began working at Immaculate Heart Church where he drove the bus and coached sports. He also began volunteering at the very busy St. Vincent de Paul Soup Kitchen. John bought an old milk delivery truck for $150 and used it to gather gleaned citrus fruit and other foods to bring to the soup kitchen. Every evening John would deliver any surplus to the homeless missions in downtown Phoenix. Searching for an efficient, less time consuming method of distributing this food, John approached Father Ronald Colloty from St. Mary's Basilica in regards to setting up a warehouse where the missions could come and pick up the food. The church responded by loaning John $3000 and an inherited bakery building near skid row. John expanded his food resources upon