On Thursday evening, June 20th, members of the Arkansas Legislative Hunger Caucus, First Lady Ginger Beebe, Event Co-chairs Debra Wolfe Sheppard and Courtney Sheppard, leaders of business and industry, hunger advocates, guest chefs and artists raised a near-record amount of money to help support the programs of the Arkansas Hunger Relief Alliance. Event sponsorships, individual table sponsorships, silent and live auctions along with individual contributions totaled more than $70,000. A very good result. We are grateful to this year’s event sponsors: Tyson (gold), and silver sponsors CGI, Stallion Transportation Group, Rick Fleetwood and the Arkansas Rice Council for their generosity and leadership.
Member agencies and Alliance programs benefit.
Proceeds from the annual Serving up Solutions events are used in part to provide Alliance member food banks, food pantries, soup kitchens, shelters and other hunger agencies with capacity building grants. These grants make it possible for member agencies to purchase equipment and make improvements that increase their ability to meet the growing need for food in their communities. An increasing number of direct hunger relief agencies across the state report having to close their doors early or decrease the number of days they are open each week because they cannot keep enough food on hand to meet the demand. Inadequate storage space or shelving, limited or no refrigeration options, an inability to transport large enough quantities of food are just some of the factors contributing to the struggles of local hunger agencies around Arkansas. The grants from Serving up Solutions are helping our member agencies increase the amount of food they can provide to hungry Arkansas families.
The Arkansas Gleaning Project is another of the Alliance’s programs that is supported by funds raised at Serving up Solutions. Gleaning, the ancient practice of hand gathering crops left in the fields after harvest, is an important (and often the only) source of low cost fruits and vegetables for many of our hunger agencies. Last year, a record 1.2 million pounds of fresh produce was gleaned at a cost of just 2.8 cents per pound. With the gleaning season just beginning, adequate program funding will help us increase our capacity to bring better nutrition options to the underserved in Arkansas.
Partnerships make good things happen.
Because of the leadership of Governor and Mrs. Beebe and the cooperation among state government agencies, private business and the Alliance, Arkansas has moved from #1 in childhood food insecurity to #9. With continued support from generous sponsors, we are committed to making similar strides in reducing overall household food insecurity in Arkansas. The funds raised at this year’s Serving up Solutions will help make that happen. Thanks again to the generous supporters of Serving up Solutions, especially First Lady Ginger Beebe, event co-chairs, Debra Wolfe-Sheppard and Courtney Sheppard, the members of the Arkansas Legislative Hunger Caucus, Tyson, CGI, Stallion Transportation Group, Rick Fleetwood, the Arkansas Rice Council, our table sponsors and in-kind sponsors, Performance Foodservice and Glazer’s Distributors of Arkansas, as well as guest chefs Patrick Herron, Gilbert Alaquinez, Jr. and Tyler Steelman of the Governor’s Mansion Culinary Staff, Chef Donnie Ferneau, Chef Matt Bell of South on Main, and Chef Jeffrey Moore of Terry’s Finer Foods.