Letter From Our President & CEO – May 10, 2025

"One hungry person is one too many.” It’s worse if that hungry person is a child.  By last count, Feeding America estimates there are approximately 22,500 young people about to enter summer vacation hungry in our four-county service area.  With school out, the safety net of school lunch, breakfast in the classroom, snack pack programs and school pantries are not available.  I often tell people there is no slow time of the year for hunger.  It never takes a break. However, summer vacation time puts additional stress on families and our agency partners.  

I remember as a child looking forward to summer vacation. Time off from school meant days of baseball or swimming with friends.  Carefree days in the sun.  But every one of those days ended with me going home to a nutritious home cooked meal. My mom always had enough for all of my friends who wanted to stay and have some of whatever she had fixed that day.  Like I said, I looked forward to summer vacation.  Hungry children do not have that luxury.  In many cases they are afraid of how they will survive while school is out.  Where will the food come from?  You can help us stock our agency partners for the increased summer need.  Thank you for helping us prepare.

The Botanical Garden of the Ozarks Chefs in the Garden is coming up in a couple of weeks.  Tuesday, May 20, area chefs will gather at the Botanical Garden for an evening of mingling and tasting.  Like the past few years, the evening will help fight food insecurity as they will donate a portion of the proceeds to the Northwest Arkansas Food Bank.  Tickets are available now by going to their website  https://www.bgozarks.org.  I hope to see you there.

If you are like me, I wake up every morning wondering what changes are coming out of Washington D.C. today.  For my Food Bank peers across the country, those concerns are even more justified.  Let me explain.  The Northwest Arkansas Food Bank distributes food from three primary sources:  donated foods; purchased foods and TEFAP (USDA commodities).  In our case less than 20% of our total distribution comes from the USDA.  At some food banks that percentage could easily exceed 50 to 60% so they are much more dependent on that source of food.  Because of the generosity of Northwest Arkansans, we are in a much better position to weather any storms that might come out federal budget cuts. On a related topic, every time I go to the grocery store I see that prices have gone up.  You can blame it on inflation, you can blame it on tariffs, you can blame it on corporate greed, you can blame it on supply and demand.  Regardless of what the root cause is, everything we buy for the Food Bank costs more today than it did a year ago. I don’t know what the future will bring.   There may be more cuts from the federal government to funding and federal programs, the cost of food may continue to rise, but with the continued support of you, our donors, I am confident that our neighbors in need will continue to be fed.

It’s been nearly a year since we moved into the Claude and Betty Harris Center for Hunger Relief.  The past 11 months have flown by.  As a staff, we have learned to adjust our way of doing business in this new facility and really haven’t found anything significant that we wished we would have done differently when we built the facility.  If you haven’t had a chance to come by for a tour, I invite you to give us a call and set one up.  This is your Northwest Arkansas Food Bank and we’re excited to show it off.

Thank you for the gift of support you all have provided.

Because of you, someone will eat today.

K

Photo representative of neighbor. Courtesy of Canva.

For seniors like Cheryl, a positive interaction while visiting a local food pantry makes all the difference. It’s more than having food to make dinner that night. It’s a lifeline of hope and a connection with her neighbors.

She catches up with the cheerful volunteers who know her by name at the Peace Lutheran Church drive-through pantry in Rogers. The Northwest Arkansas Food Bank supplies food to Peace Lutheran, one of 110+ agency partners across the region.

“The ladies who volunteer are absolutely phenomenal. I pray for them,” Cheryl said.

She knows firsthand the challenges of seniors experiencing hunger. Living on a limited income, squeezed by high healthcare costs and rising grocery prices, increases the risk of food insecurity for many older adults. Arkansas ranks number one in the nation for senior hunger according to Feeding America.

“It’s absolutely staggering, the need for help with food insecurity, especially with school children and seniors,” Cheryl said.

At the Peace Lutheran Church drive-through pantry, Cheryl fills out a form, picking the food she wants from over 30 options. She especially appreciates when the pantry has fresh produce like apples and oranges.

“It really does help,” she said. “It’s such a blessing from the hand of God.”

Peace Lutheran Church’s food pantry is open Mondays from 1:00-3:00 p.m. Neighbors can visit the pantry each week, and there are no qualifications to receive assistance. They are located at 805 W. Olrich St. in Rogers and can be contacted at 479-636-2140.

To make a one-time donation to support families like Cheryl’s, visit www.nwafoodbank.org/donate-online.

During the month of April, we welcomed 1,617 volunteers who served a total of 2,034 hours. This month’s total has set a new record for the number of volunteers we have had volunteer during a month. THANK YOU to all who made this happen! If you would like to volunteer, please visit www.nwafoodbank.org/volunteer to find a day and time that would work with your schedule.  

Nutritious food is a building block to a healthy life. When kids have reliable access to food, they have the energy they need to focus in the classroom, play on the playground with their friends and achieve their dreams.

To increase access to food in the after-school hours, the Northwest Arkansas Food Bank partnered with Owl Creek Elementary School in Fayetteville in 2020 to launch a school pantry.

While picking up their children from school, families can enter the drive-through pantry line to receive fresh produce, frozen meat and shelf-stable items.

“[Families] tell us all the time what a benefit it is to have [the school pantry] here and how appreciative they are to get this food that they otherwise wouldn’t be able to get,” said Lisa, Fayetteville Public Schools Homeless Liaison and Social Worker.

The school pantry serves households with students attending Owl Creek Elementary, John L. Colbert Middle School, and SOAR Academy, averaging 39 households served a month.

For some children, “when they’re not attending school, they’re not being fed,” Lisa said. “I feel like having [the school pantry] here is helpful in that way, to try to fill in that gap.”

Looking for ways to give back to their community and support the Northwest Arkansas Food Bank’s mission to end hunger, Adventure Subaru began sponsoring the Owl Creek school pantry in the 2023–2024 academic year.

“We love doing it because it puts our money where our mouth is,” said Danielle, Adventure Subaru Marketing Director. “It’s not just writing a check for us. It’s getting out there and putting in the volunteer hours to help out. If we can help fund a school pantry where kids and families have a meal to eat, it’s a no-brainer for us.”

Adventure Subaru staff members volunteer each month, loading cars with food and building caring connections with families.

“It’s been a really good opportunity for the employees to get out and see the impact that they can have in the community by giving out the food,” Danielle said.

For more information on school pantry resources, please contact your child’s school social worker. For additional resources across Northwest Arkansas, visit our Find Food Map at www.nwafoodbank.org/find-food.