News From The Northwest Arkansas Food Bank

FOOD FOR THOUGHT  June 2025

Letter From Our President & CEO – June, 2025

A man with a beard is smiling and wearing a white shirt

Can you believe that it’s been a year?  Last June we moved into the Claude and Betty Harris Center for Hunger Relief. Located at 1604 Honeysuckle Street in Lowell, the new Food Bank building offers many amenities that will help us in our fight against food insecurity. In case you haven’t had a chance to tour YOUR Northwest Arkansas Food Bank, please indulge me as I point out some of the features it has:


 The Walmart Volunteer Center:

  • Climate Controlled Room with 6,729 square feet 
  • Check In/Breakroom with 480 square feet 
  • Production Lines for Box Building with 6,000 square feet 
  • Floor storage or staging for +/- 108 pallets
  • In the past year we have had over 5,000 individuals who combined for nearly 15,500 hours. We’ve also reinstituted family night.

 The Willard and Pat Walker Community Room and Teaching Kitchen:

  • The Multi-purpose room is approximately 3,000 square feet
  • Fully Operational teaching kitchen with audio visual technology
  • Seating for up to 100 people based on the configuration
  • Separate entrance and restroom facilities
  • In the past year we have hosted at least 40 different events and approximately 1200 individuals.

 The Tyson Foods Protein Pack Room:

  •  Became fully operational in September 2024, and is producing an average of 40,000 pounds of family sized packages of protein a week.
  • 1500 square feet of automated technology 
  •  USDA inspected to ensure the integrity of the food product
  • Tyson, Simmons and Cargill have all committed to support this endeavor, while conversations are ongoing with other area protein producers.

There is expanded dry storage, cold storage and freezer storage that will serve us well for at least the next 25 to 30 years and beyond. Our entire staff is housed under one roof. Every effort has been made to build this facility for each room to have multiple functions and with the projected population growth in mind.


I am extremely proud of the Northwest Arkansas Food Bank building, but I am even prouder of the staff, the board of directors and the community who have banded together to make this possible.  It is the community’s food bank, I am just fortunate enough to represent you all.  Please come see us.  We love to show it off.


Because of you, someone will eat today…………And tomorrow!


K
An advertisement for the northwest arkansas food bank

Neighbor Story: Margo, Pantry-to-Plate classes

A woman is holding a white plate with a pizza on it

For Margo, cooking is all about care and creativity. She loves to experiment with flavors and ingredients to test new combinations.


“When they say,‘Season with the heart,’ I think you cook with the heart if you’re a good cook,” she said.


Margo’s friend Amy asked her to join her in the Pantry-to-Plate classes at the Northwest Arkansas Food Bank.


Pantry-to-Plate classes are open to anyone in Northwest Arkansas and are led by Becky, the Food Bank’s nutrition education coordinator, in the Teaching Kitchen. Along with making the recipes in class, participants learn nutrition tips and tricks to incorporate into their daily lives.


The class created a variety of recipes including Veggie Pizza with Whole-Wheat Crust and Asian Noodles with Peanut Sauce, including broccoli, carrots, red cabbage and baby corn.


“I love it. I love Asian food to begin with,” Margo said. “I don’t normally eat peanut sauce except with spring rolls. This was easy to make, and it was delicious.”


She would recommend the classes to anyone interested in cooking, from beginners to pros. “Even if you think you know everything, Becky is going to teach you something.”


“It’s fun to cook as a group because we’ve only been here twice,” Margo said, “but we’ve met different people and talked about our own experiences with different recipes and ingredients.”


For information on future cooking and nutrition classes, follow the Northwest Arkansas Food Bank’s Facebook page.

2025 Cereal Drive is Here!

The Northwest Arkansas Food Bank, along with the partners listed below, are hosting a Cereal Drive during the month of June. The Cereal Drive provides cereal and other non-perishable breakfast items that are kid-friendly to our neighbors here in Northwest Arkansas who might otherwise go without breakfast. 


Harps Siloam Springs- 201 US-412 W, Siloam Springs, AR 72761

Harps Gentry- 300 S Gentry Blvd, Gentry, AR 72734

Harps Fayetteville- 1274 N Colorado Dr, Fayetteville, AR 72704

10Box Springdale- 1101 S Thompson St #10box, Springdale, AR 72764

Asian Fresh Supermarket- 203 N Bloomington St, Lowell, AR 72745

Ozark Natural Foods- 380 N College Ave, Fayetteville, AR 72701

Allen’s Food Market- 60 Sugar Creek Center, Bella Vista, AR 72714

AKiN's Natural Foods- 4019 W Walnut St, Rogers, AR 72756



KNWA will also be hosting a special CEREAL DRIVE MEDIA DAY at the Walmart Supercenter on Pleasant Grove Road in Rogers on Friday, June 20th from 5:30am until 6pm.

Agency Partner Spotlight: Peace Lutheran Church, Rogers

 A joy that can’t be contained goes beyond the walls of Peace Lutheran Food Pantry in Rogers. The volunteers’ positive attitudes and camaraderie radiate into every interaction with neighbors visiting the food pantry.


“We love what we do,” said Jan, a food pantry volunteer. “We love serving our community.”


This love is shared even in small moments, like when one of the volunteers grabbed a treat to surprise a little girl with her parents in line. The girl grinned widely as soon as she saw the juice boxes peeking out of the food bag.

 

Anyone in need is welcome to visit the drive-through pantry each week. Peace Lutheran uses a client-choice format, where visitors fill out a form to choose the food items they want. Volunteers take the completed form, fill bags with the selected items and bring the groceries outside to the neighbor.

 

The Northwest Arkansas Food Bank supplies food to Peace Lutheran Church, an agency partner of the NWAFB.


“We are growing pretty steadily,” Jan said. “We get between four and eight new patrons every week.”


The pantry serves an average of 45 to 50 families a week, with some walking to the pantry from the surrounding neighborhoods and some traveling as far as Pea Ridge and Gravette.


“I think a lot of people are struggling, knowing the uncertainties,” said Pastor Melissa. She described how the church is intentional about serving the whole person, not just with the physical needs of food, hygiene items and clothing, but also with social connection.


“Our theme is neighbors helping neighbors,” she said.


Peace Lutheran Church Food Pantry is open on Mondays from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m. at 805 W. Olrich St. in Rogers (except when Rogers Public Schools are closed due to inclement weather). Neighbors can visit the pantry each week, and there are no qualifications to receive assistance. They can be reached at 479-636-2140.

A group of people are cutting a red ribbon in front of a building.
A truck filled with fruits and vegetables is parked in a parking lot.

Northwest Arkansas Food Bank Receives Grant for Protein Pack Room Upgrades

Feeding America, Tyson Foods, and Cargill have worked together to award the Northwest Arkansas Food Bank a $200,000.00 grant to provide some upgrades to their Protein Pack Room. 


“We are so grateful for the support of Tyson Foods and Cargill, Inc. provided through Feeding America.” said Kent Eikenberry, President/CEO of the Northwest Arkansas Food Bank. “This grant allows us to purchase a piece of equipment, called the quick thaw unit, that will be a game changer in our Protein Pack Room by decreasing our preparation time significantly which will allow us to get much needed protein into the hands of our neighbors in need in a fraction of the time it takes now.” 


The Protein Pack Room at the Northwest Arkansas Food Bank is one of only thirteen in the Feeding America network of food banks to have this type of operation. 


“We’re able to take product from suppliers that is packed in large packages, such as 40-pound boxes or 2,000-pound totes and repackage that product in more user- friendly sized packaging.” said Tim Owen, Director of Operations at the Northwest Arkansas Food Bank. “This allows us to distribute a more usable product, with less waste, to people that need it.”


“The protein gap in our country and communities is a real thing.” says David Bentley, Food Safety Manager at the Northwest Arkansas Food Bank. “With the Protein Pack Room, we can narrow that Gap by repacking bulk quantities of poultry products into family friendly size portions. We have Corporate donors such as Tyson Foods and Cargill, Inc. that help make this happen through monetary donations, donations of protein, and support.”


The Northwest Arkansas Food Bank is one of over 200 Partner Food Banks in the Feeding America network. 

Thank You, Volunteers! 

 During the month of May we welcomed 645 volunteers who served a total of 2,038 hours volunteering with us. We would love to have YOU, too! To find a day and time that works with your schedule, please visit: www.nwafoodbank.org/volunteer. 

Help us keep our neighbors fed during the summer months! Your donation stays local. 

A qr code for the northwest arkansas food bank