Volunteers Keep The NWA Food Bank Moving Along

Volunteers play a key role in the day-to-day operations of the Northwest Arkansas Food Bank. The number of volunteers vary every day, but there are anywhere from 95 to 300 volunteers working at the Food Bank on a monthly basis, said Trina Wilson, Volunteer and SNAP outreach coordinator at the Food Bank.

The volunteers can be individuals, church groups or workers in various corporations in Northwest Arkansas. Walmart, Cargill, Tyson and Humana are among companies that provide volunteers.

Some volunteers will bring their kids to help, she said. Youth are allowed to help with adult supervision. One three-year-old comes with her mom and marks a line through the bar codes, which prevents the goods from being resold, she said.

Tiffany Smith volunteers every Monday stuffing envelopes for fundraiser mailings. As a new volunteer, she liked the idea of volunteering after her son went off to school.

“I know people can come to a pantry and get what they need, and I like that idea,” she said. She worked at Arvest Bank for 10 years and helped with its Million Meal food drives, and that’s how she found out about the Northwest Arkansas Food Bank.

Signing up to volunteer was as easy as filling out an application online, said Smith, who graduated from

John Brown University and has lived in the area since 2004.

Steve Parker, also a new volunteer, started stuffing envelopes but moved over to sorting miscellaneous food boxes, marking out bar codes and putting them up on shelves.“It’s my favorite place,” he added. “Opening up the boxes is like Christmas – You never know what’s in them.“I found it as a way to give back to the community,” Parker said. “It’s a fun place to work as far as I’m concerned. The Food Bank workers are extremely friendly and helpful and committed to the agencies.”

Wilson said in addition to stuffing fundraising envelopes, volunteers also sort pallets of goods donated to the Food Bank. Wilson, who has been on the job for four months, likes the variety of tasks and meeting people.“It’s not the same things every day,” she said. “It’s cool getting to help people.”

In the warehouse area, there are seven stations for sorting good from bad products as well as boxing the items that are then made available to the agencies. Wilson also is in charge of the mobile unit that distributes food boxes to seniors on Thursdays at six locations. The boxes contain 28-31 items, she said. The boxes are distributed in locations in Fayetteville, Bentonville, Bella Vista, Elkins, Lowell and Siloam Springs. Among the many teams that assists is a one from Walmart Transportation that comes out to help with the mobile unit, Wilson said. They love coming to talk to those who pick up food.

In addition to her other duties, Wilson travels to food panties in the area to assist people in signing up for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits.

How to volunteer:

Those interested in volunteering at the Northwest Arkansas Food Bank:

Applications are available online at nwafoodbank.org/volunteer and at the bottom of the page is the link to apply. After application has been approved you will have access to the calendar and the ability to schedule the dates and times that work for you.

Trina Wilson, volunteer and SNAP outreach coordinator, can be reached at 479-872-8774 or by email at trina.wilson@nwafoodbank.org.