Feed Rogers has been open a month. I thought I would take this opportunity to share some numbers with you.

• We have served 1,947 unique individuals from 577 households.
• Including some neighbors who have come more than once, we have served 3,807 people through a total of 1,134 total shopping experiences.
• 25 Members of the St. Vincent de Paul parish have volunteered. That equates to between 25% and 33% of the total number of volunteers.

I would like to invite you to consider volunteering at Feed Rogers. I did my first shift Saturday. The gratitude shown by the neighbors served reassured me that we made the right decision to open a client choice food pantry.

The Botanical Garden of the Ozarks Chefs in the Garden is coming up in a couple of weeks. Tuesday, May 24, area chefs will gather at the Botanical Garden for an evening of mingling and tasting. Like last year, the evening will help fight food insecurity as they will donate a portion of the proceeds to the Food Bank. Tickets are available now by going to their website https://www.bgozarks.org/. I hope to see you there.

Everyone has a talent of some kind that they can put to use for the Food Bank. I’ve told you in the past about the Eikenbabies Lemonade stand. I’ve told you about young people who celebrate their birthday with a canned food drive rather than gifts. Today, let me tell you about a retired veterinarian who likes to tinker with wood. Sam makes crosses and gives them away after accepting a donation to the Food Bank. I made my donation earlier today and have my cross displayed in my office. Sam picked one out especially for me. Thanks Sam for being just one example of ways someone can help. If you have a unique talent, please let me know so I can share your story.

Everyone can do something to help. If you think your donation is too small to make a difference, think again. Every dollar helps to provide up to 8 meals, so everything helps. In addition to the benefit of the income, just having you be aware of the food insecurity problem in our part of the world helps us help those in need. Thank you all for your continued support over the past 6 ½ years. Wow, that time has flown by.

Because of you, someone will eat today

K

We are in the process of trying to create a master list of board members going all the way back to our beginning in 1988. If you served, or know of someone who served, please send their name and contact information to Kent Eikenberry. kent@nwafoodbank.org .

Thanks and remember…Because of you someone ate yesterday, today and will eat tomorrow.

In the first quarter of 2022 we held 46 mobile pantries at 18 unique locations, hosted 34 school pantries at 13 unique locations, and held 9 Tyson sponsored mobile pantries at 4 unique locations. Through the hard work of our staff, partner agencies, volunteers, and community partners, together we fed 121,362 households and 290,438 individuals.

From a total of 246,226 responses from our clients served, 36.44% were children under the age of 18, 42.73% were adults between the ages of 18 to 60, and 20.82% were seniors 61 years or older.

The responses from a total of 219,819 clients also told us that 47.42% live in Washington County, 39.64% live in Benton County, 7.44% live in Carroll County, and 2.56% live in Madison County.

Every dollar donated provides up to 8 meals for those in need. Please consider donating today.

www.nwafoodbank.org/donate

For 32 years, the Cooperative Emergency Outreach (CEO) in Fayetteville has helped neighbors in all walks of life get back on their feet. Whether it be help with rent, utilities, or food, staff at CEO is here to help in Washington County.

Not only has CEO been in the community for decades, but it’s also ran by local churches. Twenty-two churches to be exact, all in Washington County. During services, pastors at the various churches were all hearing of similar issues from their congregations that there were people needing help, whether they had just lost a job, their house was lost in a fire, or any other hardship they might be struggling with. The pastors didn’t want to be passive and acted immediately to help their neighbors. They joined forces to make CEO a reality. “It represents the power of a number of small organizations pooling their resources to have a broader impact than what we could do on our own,” says Joe Dushan, the President of Cooperative Emergency Outreach.

Over the years, there’s been many people walking through the doors of CEO. Some years, they were able to help out upwards of 14,000 neighbors! COVID, however, has forced this dedicated team to change the way they help our neighbors. Staff has limited the days they’re open to three days a week, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Eventually they want to reopen daily this year, as long as they can do it safely. Despite these changes, CEO still managed to serve over 6,000 neighbors in 2021. The pandemic hasn’t been entirely bad for CEO. With less days open, CEO has been able to increase the amount of assistance they give to individuals in need. Last year, they were able to provide $200,000 in direct assistance to neighbors! For Joe, helping his community is sincerely rewarding. “People are people and it’s hard for people to ask for help. I’ve been in their shoes, I know. I try and tell them that everybody needs help at one point in their life, and it happens to be your turn,” says Dushan.

So how does CEO work? Neighbors seeking assistance do have to live in Washington County, south of the Northwest Arkansas Mall and need to bring a picture ID. CEO staff can serve up to 15 neighbors a day on a first come first serve basis. When neighbors arrive, they grab a number from a hook placed next to the main door, and wait in their car until their number is called. Once inside CEO, neighbors are able to sit down and chat with a staff member about what their needs are… “occasionally people just need to talk and it’s not the bag of groceries, its not help with water bill, or help with gas to get to work, if they can just take a few minutes to explain to another human being what their situation is, that lifts a burden and I don’t know how you put a price on that,” says Dushan. After their conversation, staff then pack a 3-day supply of food for the neighbors to take home to their families.

They also assist families who are facing homelessness with help from a shelter fund that was granted to CEO. “This grant helps provide temporary shelter for up to a week in a hotel. After a week, this gives them time to access other support in the community and to get a little more on their feet,” says Dushan. “We don’t typically help out with rent or hotel stays with clients because our goal is to help people facing emergency situations regain self-reliance. If you don’t work and you don’t have a place to live and we buy you a hotel stay for two nights, what will they do on the third night? They still would need help. We want to provide a jumpstart to self-reliance,” says Dushan.

If you would like to find ways to get involved with the Cooperative Emergency Outreach, or you are needing some assistance, you can give their office a call at 479.444.7500.

For Immediate Release

April 7, 2022

Northwest Arkansas Food Bank Announces New Board Members

Springdale, AR - Northwest Arkansas Food Bank is pleased to announce the appointment of five new Board members.

Emi Cardarelli with Unilever is the Head of Wholesale Club. She holds a B.S. in International Business at the Universidad Panamericana in Mexico City and completed her MBA at the University of Arkansas’ Walton College of Business. She is passionate about supporting the community she lives in.

Samantha Daugherty is the Director of Tech Strategy with Microsoft. She is a native of Northwest Arkansas and enjoys all that the area has to offer. She is a graduate of John Brown University and holds an MBA with a focus on Leadership and Ethics.

Jason Howard is the FSQR manager with Cargill Protein in Springdale. He received his Bachelor of Science degree in Animal Science and a Masters of Natural and Applied Sciences from Missouri State University. He enjoys giving back to the community and says he is looking forward to this new opportunity to give back.

Dr. Pearl McElfish oversees the Office of Community Health and Research at the NW Regional Campus of the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, serves as Director of the Center for Pacific Islander Health, is the Associate Director of Community Outreach and Engagement with the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute, and holds faculty positions in the UAMS Colleges of Medicine, Nursing, and Public Health. She is the founder of the Office of Community Health and Research at the UAMS NW Regional Campus and of the Center for Pacific Islander Health at UAMS.

Whitney Sawney is the Communications Manager for the Native American Agriculture Fund (NAAF) and is a citizen of the Cherokee Nation. She received her Bachelor degree from the University of Arkansas. She is also an alumni of the Native American Political Leadership Program at George Washington University.

“Our Board of Directors is comprised of a dedicated team of community leaders committed to providing support for our organization,” said Kent Eikenberry, President/CEO of the Northwest Arkansas Food Bank. “We are excited to welcome them aboard.”

About Northwest Arkansas Food Bank

Northwest Arkansas Food Bank (a 501c3 organization) was established in 1988 by a group of concerned citizens who saw the need for hunger assistance in Benton, Washington, Madison and Carroll counties. In 2021 the Northwest Arkansas Food Bank distributed more than 14 million meals. Together with more than 110 partner agencies, 20 mobile pantries, and 19 school pantries, we are able to reach out to those in need; providing nutritious food to children, the working poor and senior citizens. The Northwest Arkansas Food Bank is an affiliate of Feeding America and a founding member of the Arkansas Hunger Relief Alliance.

Feed Rogers, our first client choice, Northwest Arkansas Food Bank owned pantry is now open! We held an open house on March 29 th and opened the door for business on March 30 th . During our first week in operation we were able to provide 257 households a typical shopping experience. Feed Rogers is the first of its kind program in Northwest Arkansas that provides neighbors the opportunity to choose the groceries their families will use in a respectful and empowering manner, all at no cost to them!

We want to thank our friends at Miller Zell for providing the amazing signs for Feed Rogers.

They look awesome!! Thank you for being such a great community partner to us!

A big thank you to all who came out to the Stand Up for Hunger event held at The Grove on Thursday, April 21 st . We had a great night filled with laughs, provided by comedian Alec Parent and headliner Dusty Slay. We would like to again thank our wonderful sponsors who made this night possible. We were able to raise over $10,000 to help feed our food insecure neighbors in Northwest Arkansas from this event!

During the month of April, we had 106 individuals serve a total of 509.55 hours volunteering with us in our warehouse, at our Mobile Pantries, and in the garden.

We love and appreciate our volunteers and their commitment to our organization and those we serve. If you are interested in volunteering, please visit our website www.nwafoodbank.org to find a day and shift that will fit your schedule. Thank you!

It is estimated there are 82,000 neighbors in Northwest Arkansas who struggle with food insecurity. Meaning, they don’t know where their next meal is going to come from. Since opening their doors nearly 30 years ago, volunteers at Bread of Life have made it their mission to take that burden off the shoulders of thousands of neighbors. “Our mission statement still reflects that our goal is to provide families regardless of size with at least three days of food,” says Joshua Bland the Director of Mission and Outreach for First Church Springdale.

Along with providing food to neighbors, Bread of Life also helps with household items, diapers, financial assistance for Springdale neighbors and a weekly hot community meal served through the Daily Bread program. Joshua says COVID hasn’t slowed them down, but made them appreciate life a little more. “If the last two years have reminded us of anything, none of us are meant to do this alone. None of us can handle this alone. Our goal as much as it is to provide what resources we can, is to provide a place where we can be community, where people can be heard and they can be loved and they can share that experience with one another,” says Joshua.

For one volunteer, Wright, he joined the fight against hunger 20 years ago when his mom passed away. He tells us it’s a passion of his he never wants to give up. “We’re helping people and the people here are wonderful to work with and I love it.” We asked if he plans on volunteering for another 20 years, and he says if he’s still kicking, he’ll show up and volunteer.

Although COVID has posed new challenges for staff, they never want to stop learning and want to grow from every situation. “What that has allowed us to do for the families that do come here is we’re able to spend more time with each one to learn their stories and to learn how we can encourage and come alongside with them,” says Joshua.

Bread of Life is open every Wednesday and Thursday from 9am-11:30pm along with His Helping Hands clothing closet and they see upwards of 400 neighbors a week. For Josh, who is the only staff member at Bread of Life, their mission wouldn’t be possible without the support of volunteers. “It’s really incredible to see how their creativity and their awareness as they listen to the requests and really the heart cries of our neighbors. As they hear those things, the way that shapes everything else that happens back here,” says Joshua. If staff hear of food items neighbors are wanting or any other needs, volunteers want to make that a reality.

The only thing stopping them is space. As staff look toward the future, they want to have all missions under one roof with more space to fulfill the needs of the community and hopefully that will soon be a reality. “In this space we’ve done incredible things and God has blessed our work in this space and our community in this space in the years that we’ve been here but it was never designed for this,” says Joshua.

Until then, staff will be hard at work aiding our neighbors. “It’s just a great experience and I would suggest that anybody try it at least for a while. It’s been wonderful, it still is,” says Joshua. If you would like to get involved with Bread of Life or would like to get more information please reach out to them directly at (479) 751.4610.