Jewels of Giving Gala helps fight hunger across Northwest Arkansas

On Friday night (Nov. 21), approximately 425 people came together at the Jewels of Giving Gala to provide help for the 100,000 people in Benton, Washington, Madison and Carroll counties who go hungry every day. The gala was a benefit for the Northwest Arkansas Food Bank, and the fundraising goal for the evening was $70,000.

Robert Gearhart, special event and marketing coordinator for the NWA Food Bank, said the objectives for the evening were to raise enough funds to provide more meals to those in need; to inform the audience, many of whom were new vendors in the area who don’t know about the issue of hunger in Northwest Arkansas; and to relax and enjoy a fun evening raising money for a great cause.

Hillshire Brands was the presenting sponsor for the gala. Walmart, Sam’s and Tyson were the platinum sponsors. The evening included dinner, dancing, and silent and live auctions. Music was provided by Ultra Suede.

According to the NWA Food Bank, 1 in 4 people in Northwest Arkansas do not know where their next meal is coming from. 

Tim Yatsko and Pam Kohn, both of Walmart Stores Inc., served as co-chairs for the event. In his remarks, Yatsko said the Food Bank gave out seven million pounds of food last year and they believe that amount will increase this coming year.

According to the NWA Food Bank website, their mission is to “nourish our community by feeding hungry people.” In fulfilling that goal, the organization serves more than 700,000 people annually in Benton, Washington, Madison and Carroll counties through partnerships with more than 180 agencies. The number of people helped could fill up Razorback stadium 9.7 times, and 40 percent of those are children under the age of 18. 

However, Gearhart said hunger is found in every segment of the population. 

“Hunger isn’t prejudiced. It doesn’t target one segment. It hits anybody and everybody,” he said. “Children and then seniors are the heavy numbers.”

Gearhart said there is hunger in every city in Northwest Arkansas, but that the segment of the population who is hungry in each area is different. 

“It comes down to what city you look at. In Bella Vista, it’s senior citizens. In Bentonville, it’s the working blue collar. In Rogers, it’s immigrants and single families. In Fayetteville, it’s college students and homeless and working class. In Springdale, it’s immigrants, Hispanic and Marshallese. And, in Madison and Carroll counties, it’s farmers.”

The Food Bank leans heavily on the four-county region to donate food for the hungry, Gearhart said.

“Northwest Arkansas is a great community. Whenever we need something, they step up to the plate and they help us,” he said. “We’re extremely grateful. We couldn’t do our job without the community’s support.”

Jennifer Hodge, assistant vice president/loan officer for Today’s Bank, said their bank held a food drive in their branches in Fayetteville and Huntsville.

“For our grand opening (last spring) in Fiesta Square, we asked everybody to bring food and we filled the back of a truck,” she said. 

Today’s Bank will do more food drives to benefit the NWA Food Bank, Hodge said.

“It’s a good pair because they’re a food bank and we’re a financial bank,” she said. 

The food drive interested the bank’s president, Larry Olsen because of the efficiencies of the Food Bank, she said.

“They can do meals so inexpensively and feed so many people – more than any other organization in Northwest Arkansas. It’s more bang for your buck,” she said, adding that she is amazed that the Food Bank can provide five meals for only one dollar.

A music video, promoting the work of the Food Bank, debuted during the gala. It featured the song, “Give Them Hope” sung by Rachel Gubler and Tyler Prince, and showed pictures of children and the NWA Food Bank facilities, staff and volunteers.