Letter From Kent

I remember the excitement I had as a boy when the last day of school rolled around. School’s out for summer, what a great phrase. Three months of baseball, swimming, riding bikes and hanging with friends. I knew that no matter how much energy I burned off during the day, I would always be able to come home of an evening to a home cooked meal. Mom didn’t care who or how many were there. She always prepared plenty. Sadly, too many of our neighborhood children are not able to do this. Thousands of school children in Northwest Arkansas get their most nutritious meal of the day at school. When school is out, that support system goes away. That is why we promote School’s out, hunger’s not. This drive allows us to collect food to help address the hunger needs that come from school being closed. Please consider donating to this effort. Your contribution will go to support the summer feeding programs from area schools and supplement the Samaritan House’s Summer Snack pack program.

Speaking of the Samaritan House’s Summer Snack program, we are proud to say that we are partnering with them to help expand the number of bags distributed and include easy to prepare meals for the entire family. The NWA Food Bank was blessed to receive a grant for a summer program from General Mills. After meeting with Samaritan House and General Mills, we unanimously decided that the best way to move forward was through a collaborative effort. Our thanks go out to both General Mills and Samaritan House for helping to make this happen.

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I want to give a shout out to our friends at Octagon, the folks behind the scene at the Walmart Northwest Arkansas Championship presented by P & G. Happy 10th Anniversary. I have had the opportunity to work closely with this group since the tournament was just dream. I’ve seen it grow to become one of the premier stops on the LPGA tour. The players look forward to coming here, the community looks forward to the event, the sponsors have a great time and at the end of the day, this event helps people. The Northwest Arkansas Food bank thanks the tournament and the sponsors for their generous contributions in the past. Because of your donations, we have provided over 1,590,000 meals to the hunger insecure in our Four- county service area. This year’s tournament is packed with events for the golf fan, the entertainment fan, the running fan, and the food fan. Check out their tournament web site at nwachampionship.com. Also, while you are at the tournament be sure to stop by any of the concessions stands at 11 Green, 15 Tee, the Ballpark Pavilion or 17 Green and say hello to either a Food Bank associate or volunteer. Please join us as we celebrate another year of Fairways and Greens for Food.

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In closing I want to invite each of you to consider volunteering here at the Food Bank. There is a role her for each and every one of you. Whether it is sorting cans, stuffing mailings, or working on the GALA (which is November 18 by the way) there is a job for you to do. Since this is my space, and my business card says I can say what I want, I would like to welcome one of our newest volunteers, my wife. Diana just retired from teaching after 37 years. I estimate that over the years she has touched the lives of over 8,000 young people in Kansas or Arkansas. To me there is no more noble profession and I know of no one who has poured more of her heart and soul into forming the very being of her students than her. Congratulations on your retirement and welcome to the world of volunteering. I love you.

Have a great summer everyone. Stay hydrated.

Kent