NWA Food Bank Gala goal set at $150,000 to address hunger in Northwest Arkansas

Editor’s note: Story and photos by Nancy Peevy, special to Talk Business & Politics.

Hunger was on the minds of the almost 600 guests in attendance at the 7th annual Jewels of Giving on Friday (Nov. 20) at John Q. Hammons Center in Rogers as they partnered with the NWA Food Bank to bring an end to hunger in NWA.

Organizers said the gala was expected to raise $150,000, well over the total of $100,000 raised last year. With every dollar donated, the Food Bank can provide five meals, and so the projected amount would provide 750,000 meals for those who are hungry in Benton, Carroll, Madison and Washington counties.

Robert Gearhart, special events coordinator for the NWA Food Bank, said one in four people in NWA is food insecure. According to Feeding America, the nation’s largest domestic hunger relief organization, food insecurity is defined as “lack of access, at times, to enough food for an active, healthy life for all household members.”

“We have a more severe hunger issue in our four counties than the rest of the state,” Gearhart said. “We outperform Little Rock, outperform Fort Smith, the Delta.”

The national average of food insecurity is one in six and in Arkansas it is one in five, but in NWA, it is one in four, he said.

“It would take the whole state of Mississippi to equal the severity of hunger in our four counties.”

Gearhart said Arkansas leads the nation in childhood hunger, senior hunger, obesity and divorce rates. So, since NWA leads the state in hunger, this four county area would also lead the state and the nation in the number of those who are food insecure. Shawn Baldwin, senior vice president of fresh foods and quality control for Walmart and co-chair of the gala, said there are 80,000 people in Northwest Arkansas who are food challenged.

“People don’t realize how prevalent hunger is,” said Pam Kohn, board member and co-chair of the gala. “And it’s just around the corner. It could be next door.”

Hunger is one of those issues that doesn’t discriminate, Gearhart said.

“It affects the very young, the very old; and it doesn’t matter if you are male, female, African-American, white, Hispanic,” he said. “It comes in any shape, size, color, gender.”

To address the need, the Food Bank has distributed 7.2 million pounds of food to the community and served 761,168 clients in this area over the last year. According to Gearhart, they are the only Feeding American Food Bank in the four-county area and have 180 area agencies, ranging from food pantries, to senior centers, to other non-profits, that pull from their warehouse. Gearhart said 98% of the Food Bank’s budget goes directly to food purchase, with just 2% going to overhead costs.

Tyson, the presenting sponsor of the gala, has been a long time partner of the Food Bank. He said they have contributed items ranging from frozen proteins, to a walk in freezer, as well as helping build the Food Bank’s facility and have also given grants.

“Tyson has been a pillar of our partners,” Gearhart said. “We’ve been in existence for 28 years and from the beginning Tyson has been with us, side by side.”

During the evening, guests and organizers celebrated the retirement of Marge Wolf. She served as president/CEO of the NWA Food Bank since 2008. In retirement she will do consulting work, and has been appointed to a position on the Governor’s Advisory Council for the Aging. In addition, she will continue her work as an elected member of the Rogers City Council.

Wolf said she is sad to retire, but excited about the future of the Food Bank and the generous volunteers who support it.

“People have no idea how giving people are in NWA. The first shock to people is that there’s even this situation, that there are people that are hungry,” Wolf said. “There are people that will step up and say, just tell me what I need to do – whether it’s financially or volunteering – whatever it is.”

Wolf said many things happened during her tenure at the Food Bank, but she is most proud of the senior mobile pantry. She said the pantry feeds over 5,000 seniors in a year’s time.

“It goes once a week to a different place … and distributes food to seniors. That’s something I really wanted to see happen.”

During the gala, guests were treated to dinner, dancing, live and silent auctions and a photo booth. Live auction items included a trip to South Africa, a Kansas City Royals game package, a Disney World trip for 4, a Back Yard BBQ, a Branson vacation and a St. Louis Cardinals game package.

Other event sponsors include Walmart, Sam’s Club, and General Mills.