While area students may not be excited to see their summer break come to an end, they can rest assured that every Monday through Friday they will sit down for a balanced meal provided by the school lunch room.

In many cases, lunch is the only balanced meal they will receive during the day. And, of course, on Saturday and Sunday there is no school and therefore no school lunch.

We are pleased to partner with the Samaritan Center, Bread of Life in Springdale, Loaves and Fishes in Berryville, just to name a few partners, to address this weekend need through their snack pack programs.

I have mentioned several times in the last few months that by working through Feeding America, our national donor, and partnering with other Food Banks, we are able to purchase food product at a much lower rate that most organizations can.

We also have received grants specific to feeding youth that we have used to purchase food for these partners to distribute. As we work together, we are able to provide some much needed food, while each of these organizations provides a very efficient distribution system.

Call us here at the Food Bank if you have questions about how you can get involved in this much needed service.

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September is Hunger Action Month. We have several activities planned to create Top of Mind Awareness for food insecurity. Check out the Northwest Arkansas Democrat Gazette and the September issue of Celebrate magazine for a complete listing of events.

Here is just a teaser. The City of Fayetteville is hosting a city-wide food drive with drop off locations at nearly all city offices. Our popular “Take a Bite out of Hunger” restaurant promotion is back. The Greater Bentonville Chamber of Commerce is hosting a golf tournament in which we will be a beneficiary of part of the proceeds. Staff and Board members will be at the Bella Vista Country Club on Friday, Sept. 14, to tell our story.

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Did you know that orange is the primary color of Feeding America and the Northwest Arkansas Food Bank? I encourage you all to wear orange as much as possible during September and then tell the story of why orange if anyone asks.

My original thought last year was that we would host a fundraising contest this year and if enough money came in I would dye my beard orange. While that certainly would be a conversation starter, I lost my nerve. Maybe I’ll do it next year when the few black hairs remaining turn whiteJ

As a compromise, I plan on wearing something orange every day during the month. I’ll let you know in next month’s column if I was successful. …Now if you all trust me and want to make this a FUNdraiser, you can pledge to donate $X for every day I wear orange. If enough money is raised, maybe I’ll get the nerve to do my beard next year.

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September is also the start of Football season. Every team is still undefeated and every team has high hopes. Did you know that the renovated Razorback stadium will seat more than 70,000 people? Imagine all those people calling the Hogs. Now imagine that nearly 90 percent of those cheering fans are food insecure. That’s right, more than 64,000 of your Northwest Arkansas neighbors do not have enough resources to put a complete meal on the table when it is time to eat.

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Our 10th Annual Jewels of Giving Gala is set for Nov. 16 at the John Q Hammons Convention Center in Rogers. It is our largest fundraising event of the year. I hope you can join us for an evening featuring a great dinner, live and silent auction items and all for a great cause. Sponsorships and tickets are still available.

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Construction on Highway 265 is moving along. Currently APAC has laid the foundation for the road from the south to our property line.

We are in the process of getting approval to redesign our current parking lot to allow semi-trucks to come in and turn around to back into our dock. Construction vehicles are in our lot every day, so if you choose to come to the Food Bank for any reason, please use extra caution.

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Thank you all for your continued support. …So until next month…

Because of you someone will eat today.

Kent