Bruce Springsteen raising money for St. Mary’s Food Bank during Phoenix concert

PHOENIX – Legendary rocker Bruce Springsteen will help feed thousands of Arizonans in need when he performs in Phoenix this week.

As he’s done in previous visits, the Boss will raise money for St. Mary’s Food Bank when he returns to action with the E Street Band on Tuesday night at Footprint Center in Phoenix.

“A lot of musical artists help out causes when they come to town and have helped out the food bank, but none more so than Bruce,” St. Mary’s Food Bank spokesman Jerry Brown told KTAR News 92.3 FM last week. “Each time he’s come here, he’s allowed us to collect funds at the arena and he actually mentions us during his encore and asks people to please make a donation on the way out. And he also usually matches that donation with a personal check. We’ve raised over 200,000 meals each of the last two times he came.”

Fans who aren’t going to the concert but want to support the cause can make donations through a special St. Mary’s/Springsteen webpage, Brown said.

Phoenix show marks Bruce Springsteen’s return after illness

Tuesday’s concert will be Springsteen’s first since Sept. 3, 2023, at MetLife Stadium in his home state of New Jersey. He was forced to postpone the remainder of his 2023 tour dates, including a Nov. 30 stop in Phoenix, to recover from peptic ulcer disease.

“I want you to be ready, be prepared, be afraid, because we are going to rock you into the ground,” Springsteen, whose high-intensity marathon concerts with the E Street Band are the stuff of legend, said in a video posted to social media Sunday.

TURN UP THE VOLUME ALL THE WAY UP!
A message from the Boss😉

📸: @springsteen pic.twitter.com/XSLs9duiEr

— Bruce Springsteen's Tour News (@BruceTourNews) March 17, 2024

The 74-year-old rocker hasn’t performed in the Valley since he came through Phoenix on “The River Tour” in 2016.

“So between COVID and the fact that his tour was delayed this year when he was ill for a little while, it’s been a long time since he’s been back, but we’re glad he’s going to be back on Tuesday night,” Brown said.

St. Mary’s Food Bank busier now than during pandemic

Brown said the boost from the Boss comes at a time when St. Mary’s is busier than ever serving families in need.

“We’re actually seeing more people at the food bank now than we did during the height of the pandemic,” he said. “Inflation has really affected so many people. Just at our two main locations in Phoenix and Surprise, we’re seeing 1,700 families every day come to the food bank. We’re distributing more than 100,000 emergency food boxes every month, and that’s more than we’ve ever done at any point in our 57-year history.”

KTAR News 92.3 FM’s Balin Overstolz-McNair contributed to this report.

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