Ameriprise supports regional food bank

Ameriprise financial advisors from Fort Smith are joining forces with their colleagues, clients, family and friends on Nov. 16 to help end domestic hunger.

The team of more than 55 will volunteer from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., at River Valley Regional Food Bank, which is located at 1420 N. 32nd St., Fort Smith. Cameras are invited to capture footage of the volunteers sorting, labeling, and boxing food items.

The event is part of a national day of service organized by the company. Ameriprise financial advisors, staff and employees across more than 45 states have committed to volunteering at approximately 350 hunger relief organizations in their local communities.

“Ameriprise Financial is dedicated to supporting organizations like River Valley Regional Food Bank that are committed to hunger relief efforts,” said Kenneth Siebenmorgen, who organized the local volunteer efforts.“As the recession made clear by leaving one in six Americans struggling with food scarcity, hunger knows no boundaries. Our goal with this project is to lift up those in our community who’ve fallen on hard times and had difficulty putting food on the table.”

The following local financial advisors are participating in the event: Kenneth Siebenmorgen, Anita Barnett, Carol Ransom, Keith Lux, Bryan Binz, Heather Yarbrough, Kendra Van Horn and team members, Kay Adams, Jona Schauer, Merissa Wiand, and Trey Smith.

Members of the community also have an opportunity to help support domestic hunger relief efforts and make a more significant impact than they could on their own. Anyone who visits this website and makes an online contribution to Feeding America prior to Dec. 1 is eligible to have their donation doubled through the Ameriprise Financial Matching Challenge, pledging up to $500,000 in hunger relief.

Each dollar contributed during the Matching Challenge will make it possible for the organization to provide 16 meals to hungry families during the upcoming holiday season.

The mission of the River Valley Regional Food Bank is to solicit, store and distribute food and other grocery-related products through a network of 217 not-for-profit organizations and to provide services through a variety of programs to feed and assist those in need in the River Valley, and to raise public awareness about hunger and the role of food banking in alleviating hunger.

Formed in September 1986 with the help of startup grants from the United Way and the Arkansas Office of Community Services as a program of the Crawford-Sebastian Community Development Council, Inc., the Food Bank serves an estimated 63,000 individuals annually.