Volunteers are a crucial resource for charitable non-profits in accomplishing their missions. This is no less true for the Alliance and the Arkansas No Kid Hungry campaign. Because ours is a statewide mission to reduce hunger through direct relief, education and advocacy, reaching underserved populations across the state would be impossible were it not for the work of our volunteers.
- Our Arkansas No Kid Hungry campaign Breakfast Advocates, many of whom are retired educators and food service directors, go around the state helping school district administrators understand how alternative breakfast delivery models can increase the number of students who get a good breakfast every morning.
- SNAP Outreach volunteers identify low-income Arkansans who qualify for nutrition assistance benefits but are not enrolled in the SNAP program. Our SNAP-Out-Hunger volunteers help overcome barriers to the application process that may be keeping food insecure Arkansans from getting the food they need to feed their families.
- The Alliance is lead partner in Arkansas for Share Our Strength’s Cooking Matters program. We rely exclusively on volunteer culinary and nutrition experts to conduct these very popular, 6-week courses that teach underserved children, teens and adults how to shop for and prepare great tasting, nutritious meals on a budget.
- Our Cooking Matters at the Store volunteer facilitators lead grocery tours that teach low-income individuals and family members the skills they need to make informed food choices. They learn how to stretch their food dollars by reading and understanding labels and choosing low cost, nutritious foods.
- The Arkansas Gleaning Project relies heavily on volunteers from the Arkansas Department of Corrections to help gather fresh produce left in the fields of Arkansas growers after the harvest. Without the help of volunteer inmates, 1.2 million pounds of fresh fruits and vegetables would not have made it to the tables of food insecure Arkansans. We also enjoy the help of volunteers from the central Arkansas community who help hand gather crops like watermelon as part of our Watermelon Crawl Festival during late summer.
We appreciate the time, talent and enthusiasm that all of our volunteers bring to the mission of reducing hunger in Arkansas. If you or your family members are looking for volunteer opportunities, we invite you to check out our Volunteer page and see how you can get involved in solving hunger issues in our state.