I cannot thank you enough for the support you have shown us. Every day we get a stack of mail which includes not only donations but notes and letters of encouragement. I want to share some of those notes of encouragement with you.

Enclosed is $100: “I’ve had this for years as emergency cash. This really is an emergency.” This is just one example of the words of encouragement which help us be better today than we were yesterday.

We get lots of Bible verses quoted. The most recent 1 John 4:16 “And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.” Lots of notes stating we are in their thoughts and prayers.

We have had donors sign over their stimulus check to us. Speaking of stimulus, here is another. “I try to send you $20 twice a year, but I’m sending you more from the government stimulus check I received.

Here is another who is “using their stimulus check to help mobile pantry.”

"Hi to you all. Keep up the good work and know that I’ll be sending more soon. God bless you."

I look forward to one day being able to take a tour…but will wait until times are better."

"The current situation is tough on so many people. I’m very blessed to still have a job and wish to share with those who need help. Please use this donation to purchase food for the Food Bank."

"Thank you for helping families during this pandemic."

And finally my favorite: "Please accept this in honor of June Self."

Every time I read a note of encouragement I am refreshed knowing that the community is out there supporting our mission. Thank you all for that support. Because of you, someone will eat today.

- Kent Eikenberry

In April we celebrated Volunteer Appreciation Week. Although we can’t celebrate with our volunteers in person right now, we still wanted to recognize them during the week and celebrate with them from a distance. We will all get together soon for a party to celebrate in style!

Our 2020 Corporate Volunteer of the Year:

Tyson Foods

Tyson served over 270 hours with 137 volunteers this past year.

Our 2020 Volunteer of the Year: Franklin Evarts Franklin serves in our warehouse twice a week. He has volunteered over 100 hours this past year.

Although our volunteer program is currently closed to the public, we have been able to continue serving the community through assistance by our staff's family members, select volunteers, and a new partnership with Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art! We are deeply grateful for the dedication we have seen across the community, and have been able to build more than 4,400 boxes of food with the Crystal Bridges team and look forward to a continued union across our missions.

THANK YOU NORTHWEST ARKANSAS! We can't wait for you to join us again soon through our volunteer program! For the month of April we had 66 volunteers who were able to serve a total of 216 hours!

This shows you really are never too young to give back: Mason Weisenfels just turned 9 this year. We received this message from Mason's mother and wanted to share. What a caring young boy! The message was as follows:

It is more blessed to give than to receive. Acts 20:35

Times are tough for so many. The NWA Food Bank can provide up to 10 meals for every $1 donation. Mason’s love for life and joy is so contagious, let’s celebrate him by spreading that to others. When I talked to him about this idea, his response was to run and get some of his own money to donate. For Mason’s 9th birthday, consider driving by to honk, wave, and donate $1 in honor of him. It may sound small, but little by little, a little becomes a lot.

Mason and his mother set up a crowdfunding page with all of the donations going to our organization to feed those in need. His goal was set at $100.00.

Mason raised $460.00.

Ronnie is retired and now lives off of social security. Thankfully, he is in good health and able to go about his daily business, in the safety of his home. He visited our mobile pantry in West Fork this past month as an opportunity to share the food he received there with his neighbors in need. This was his first time to visit a pantry, and says he was pleasantly surprised to receive fresh produce with the food he received. “People should know that they should not be ashamed and that the food bank staff are very kind,” Ronnie says. We are glad we are able to help people like Ronnie and his neighbors, and know we could not do so if it wasn’t for our generous supporters. We appreciate every dollar we receive and know we can put it to good use in the community to help feed those in need.

If you know someone who could benefit from our services, please refer them to our website to find a full listing of our mobile pantry schedule under the FIND FOOD tab.

A new garden, which we are calling the Teaching Garden, is starting to produce at our Bethel Heights location! So far, we have planted zucchini, yellow squash, winter squash, cantaloupe, okra, potatoes, onions, cucumbers, and lots of flowers (to attract pollinators and beneficial insects). In the middle of this month, we will plant bell peppers and watermelon. Volunteers will help with general garden maintenance, including, but not limited to, planting, harvesting produce, spreading mulch, and weeding around plants in the garden.

All produce grown in this garden will go directly to people we serve through our Mobile Pantry program. The goal of this garden is to supplement the Mobile Pantry program with locally grown, fresh, nutritious produce, as well as to teach volunteers and our partner agencies about local agriculture. We use organic methods in this garden to protect the health of our staff, clients, volunteers, and the environment. In size, the Teaching Garden is 1/4 of an acre.

The Mobile Pantry team has been administering an Impact Survey courtesy of Feeding America and the percentage of people using charitable food services for the first time is 22%. The service was conducted March 23 – April 30.

2019 – 417,149.83 pounds purchased

2020 – 591,303.20 pounds purchased

That is an increase of 30%.

Ronnie is retired and now lives off of social security. Thankfully, he is in good health and able to go about his daily business, in the safety of his home. He visited our mobile pantry in West Fork this past month as an opportunity to share the food he received there with his neighbors in need. This was his first time to visit a pantry, and says he was pleasantly surprised to receive fresh produce with the food he received. “People should know that they should not be ashamed and that the food bank staff are very kind,” Ronnie says. We are glad we are able to help people like Ronnie and his neighbors, and know we could not do so if it wasn’t for our generous supporters. We appreciate every dollar we receive and know we can put it to good use in the community to help feed those in need.

If you know someone who could benefit from our services, please refer them to our website to find a full listing of our mobile pantry schedule under the FIND FOOD tab.