Usually when I sit down to begin writing this column, I refer back to previous years.

Today, when I looked at March 2020 all I can say is “Holy cow, what a ride this past year has been.” My March 2020 edition started off with “My Why.” If you will indulge me, I would like to share my WHY one more time, while expanding on how my WHY is even more important in March 2021 than March 2020.

“I was recently asked what my WHY is. In order to share the WHAT, one must first be able to articulate the WHY. WHY do you do WHAT you do? In a word, my WHY is “HOPE.” You see, on the surface, the job of the food bank is pretty straightforward. We collect food and give it to those in need. But there is so much more to it. Diana and I were early volunteers at the St. Vincent de Paul Food Pantry. In fact, those Saturdays 20 plus years ago formed the basis of my WHY. I promise you, no one wants to go to a food pantry to get food. They go out of necessity. Whether they have had an unexpected expense and were a one-time visitor to a pantry, or they are members of the working poor that simply do not have money after paying the bills, they walk into a food pantry with a look of despair, a look of shame asking for a hand up, not a hand out. I’ve seen that look many times. In fact, I’ve seen it more times than I will ever forget. That look is engrained into my memory. Fortunately, also engrained into my memory is the look of hope, the look of relief that a client has after receiving food to feed his or her family for a few days. For just a moment, all is better in their world. They will still have to struggle to get by but they know they don’t have to struggle alone; there are people there to help. They sense the HOPE that comes from having at least one of their issues resolved for a time.”

This past year we have seen an increase of thousands of people who are food insecure. We have seen hundreds of people in a food line for the first time in their life. People who never could have imagined that something would happen and cause them to be “one of those people.” People who realized and people who were thankful that the Northwest Arkansas Food Bank and our partner agencies were there with much needed groceries, a smile and the gratitude of being able to share the HOPE necessary to get up off the mat and carry on. If you haven’t seen our newest television commercial, let me give you a little tease. You will see me say the Northwest Arkansas Food Bank is there for those who need help, 7 days a week, 365 days a year, NO QUESTIONS ASKED. If that doesn’t give you HOPE, I don’t know what does.

COVID-19 has been at the front of the news cycle for the past year. That, perhaps, is the biggest understatement I have ever written. Certainly there is cause for excitement with three vaccines being distributed, the numbers of cases, hospitalizations and deaths all-decreasing. But as all the experts say, we cannot let our guard down now. Please be careful out there. The pandemic is far from over, and the economic fallout could go on for years. Thank you all for helping put us in a position to deal with whatever the future holds for us all.

Because of you someone will eat today… and tomorrow.

Kent

In 2009, three women named Leslie, Pattie, and Kaci decided they wanted to do some mission work and saw that many children in their area were going home hungry. They raised some money and started a small pantry in the area to help provide these children with food to eat. That small act of kindness grew into what today is known as God’s Pantry.

Sharleen Rathmell, the secretary and a volunteer for God’s Pantry, said today, the pantry has moved into a new, bigger building and now also includes a thrift store that sells anything from household items to clothing to school supplies at very reasonable price.

“I don’t think these three women thought this would ever grow as much as it has grown,” she said.

The thrift store occasionally receives grants from various agencies, but otherwise is funded fully by donations from the community.

“It’s a very small community out here,” she said, “but they’ve all been so generous that it’s just been amazing what we can provide our clients.”

Clients interested in coming to God’s pantry for food must use the drive-through because of COVID-19 regulations. They check-in with a volunteer and are able to choose some fresh vegetables from their car. Then they are given a “shopping list” of food items to choose from. Though the bags are food are mostly pre-bagged, each client is given a few choices such as type of cereal or meat. After making their choices they pull forward while volunteers pack the orders and bring them to the car. Clients can come to the pantry every week, and those who qualify for USDA commodities will receive those once a month.

COVID-19 has had more effects on God’s Pantry than just the drive-through method. Sharleen said the pantry had to close for a few weeks near the start of the pandemic because the pantry was worried for their volunteers, most of which are older adults. There are no paid employees at God’s pantry, they are all volunteers. Sharleen said the pantry could not do what they do without the help of these volunteers.

“We have some wonderful volunteers that have just stepped up during COVID,” Sharleen said, “and have been able to come.”

God’s Pantry serves people from the Pea Ridge, Garfield, and Gateway areas, but Sharleen said they are always willing to lend a helping hand to others.

“We never turn anybody down,” she said. “If they come in from a different area, we always give them food and then we recommend that they go to their pantry that’s closer to them.”

“It’s always a blessing to me when I see that we are helping so many people,” Sharleen said, “that they’re not going to go hungry tonight.”

God’s Pantry is located at 17938 Dennis Mitchell Road in Garfield. Food pick-up is available on Thursdays from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., and the thrift store is open on Thursdays from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Donations are still being accepted for the thrift store.

Springdale, AR - Northwest Arkansas Food Bank is pleased to announce the appointment of two new board members, Jerome Drolet with Kraft Heinz, and Ronnie Webb with Visit Rogers.

“Our Board of Directors is compromised 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.”

Jerome is the Head of Sales, Walmart & Sam’s Club for Kraft Heinz Company. In this role, he is responsible for driving customer growth and generating shared value while leveraging the power of the Kraft Heinz portfolio.

He joined Kraft Heinz in 2020 with over 15-years of extensive commercial experience in General Management, Sales, Category Management, Commercialization and Marketing with large Consumer Goods (CPG) companies, including Procter & Gamble, The Coca-Cola Company, and Nature’s Bounty Co. Most recently, he served as Vice-President for Keurig Dr Pepper. Jerome is involved in several community initiatives including serving on the Executive Committee of Latin XNA.

Jerome holds a Bachelor of Business Administration and an MBA from Laval University, in Quebec City, Canada.

Ronnie is the Destination Sales Manager, for Visit Rogers a division of the Rogers-Lowell Area Chamber of Commerce. Webb helps market and sell Rogers, Arkansas as a destination to the religious, sports, and group tour markets.

He earned his Bachelor of Science Degree in Health and Human Performance from the University of Tennessee at Martin in 2011. After graduation, Webb was awarded an internship by Verizon Wireless’s corporate office to work in Little Rock, AR. Post-internship, he went on to work in various industries such as health and wellness, the medical field, and now in the hospitality industry. Ronnie also owns and operates Door 2 Door Fitness, a mobile personal training business in NWA and also serves as an advisor for EPIC Health Wellness, a health and wellness networking group. Weekly he leads a group of young men at Life.Church Rogers as well as is a mentor to young black professionals.

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 2020 the Northwest Arkansas Food Bank distributed more than 13.25 million meals. Together with more than 135 partner agencies, 15 mobile pantries, and 12 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.

During the month of February, we welcomed 66 volunteers who gave 262 hours of time to helping us feed those who are food insecure in the Northwest Arkansas region. We couldn’t do what we do without our volunteers! If you would like to volunteer, please visit www.nwafoodbank.org/volunteer to find a day and time that works best for you. Please be assured we are taking extra precautions to make sure we follow all CDC guidelines to keep everyone as safe as possible.

Angelica is married with seven children ranging from eight months old to sixteen years old. Six of the seven children are in school. Her husband works as a painter, but only gets paid when they have work. She learned about our School Pantry program from a flyer the children received at their school.

The children receive free meals at the school and are involved with the school’s SackPack program, too, which helps the family during the week.

“This is a huge blessing for our family,” said Angelica. “Without this help we would do without and not eat as much. This is a big help. Thanks from our heart.”

A special "thank you" goes out to our wonderful volunteers from Tyson Foods for coming out to the warehouse to help us prepare food boxes that will be distributed to those who are food insecure in our region. Tyson Foods is such a great supporter of our organization in so many ways. We really appreciate them and all that they do to help us feed our neighbors in Northwest Arkansas. Thank you, Tyson Foods!