 When schools close their doors for summer vacation, thousands of children lose access to free or reduced-price meals until classes begin again in the fall. 
|  With ONE CHILD IN FOUR regularly facing hunger and food hardship – a family’s inability to afford enough food to feed a household – Arkansas ranks first in the nation for having the greatest number of children living in poverty and at risk of hunger. The Kids’ Pantry Report
When schools close their doors for
summer vacation, thousands of children who are eligible for free or
reduced-price breakfast and lunch meals during the academic year lose
access to this important service and are vulnerable to real nutritional
setbacks until classes begin again in the fall. Feeding over 2,300 youngsters a
week at 36 sites* in low-income communities throughout Pulaski County
and in Camden and Strong, Arkansas, the KIDS’ PANTRY
is the state’s only charitable out-of-school meal program solely
developed to provide kids with good food for meals throughout the year. (*In
addition to serving children, KP sites in Camden, Strong and
Jacksonville also provide a lunch meal – on site or delivered – to 157
seniors, two to four times a week.)
Here’s What KP Kids are Eating During the Week:
Volunteering for Potluck Helping Feed Hungry Arkansans
Recently, I accepted Carol Herzog’s offer to the board to see food rescue in action by volunteering with her and Ray Smith, KIDS’ PANTRY Coordinator, in the early morning hours during selection and distribution of rescued food that would be delivered that day to KIDS’ PANTRY sites and other agencies. What an eye opener it was for me. Even though I’d known of Potluck for years, I had imagined that rescued food was likely food no one else wanted – that it perhaps wasn’t particularly appealing – or that it was just a little bit of this and that. Boy was I wrong. Potluck rescues more than 13,000 pounds of food a day, and to my delight, I found that it’s primarily premium, high quality food to include fresh fruits, raw vegetables, pre-packaged salads, fresh sandwiches, cases of frozen food, and hundreds of containers of pre-cooked entrées and side dishes. Thankfully, the organization has a strong and growing base of generous and consistent food donors, so that a portion of food collected and delivered daily can be returned to the warehouse, sorted and distributed as balanced, healthy meals for kids and other recipients the next day. While it’s a wonderful feeling to know many thousands of people regularly benefit from Potluck, it’s also discouraging to know how much food still goes to waste – and unfortunately, how misunderstood food rescue’s role is in the fight against hunger. One of my jobs as a board member is to spread the word about Potluck to friends, supporters and potential food sources – and after getting a first-hand glimpse of food rescue in action, I look forward to my task. - Margaret Powell POTLUCK BOARD MEMBER DIRECTOR OF COMMUNITY RELATIONS, CITY OF NORTH LITTLE ROCK from Carol Herzog, Executive Director For the last eighteen months, Potluck has focused on heightening our impact by directing resources where they can do the most good – both in meeting the increasing need for emergency food and ensuring children, adults, families and the elderly have the food they need on an ongoing basis.
By sourcing new food donors, increasing the size and/or frequency of donations from current donors and expanding days and hours of operation – during the first 100 days of 2011, we boosted food recovery by more than 16,000 pounds a month from first quarter last year – enabling us to get more food into the hands of those that need it the most – more often. Even as the economy slowly rebounds, with so many individuals and families having a tough time getting back on their feet, our emergency food programs – shelters, soup kitchens, day centers and food pantries – report the need for food is up by more than 25%. Potluck’s ability to provide agencies with consistent deliveries of food 4 to 12 times a month has been vital in helping them keep pace with the growing demand by having more food to serve/distribute daily in addition to keeping their shelves/freezers stocked during the week when food from other sources are low and/or too costly to afford. Food rescue plays a unique and vital role in the fight against hunger and has proven to be a highly effective method of getting quality food into the hands of those that need it the most. Our ability to respond to Arkansas’ growing hunger problem continues to depend on the generosity of Arkansans themselves.
 A WALK TO HELP PUT GOOD FOOD
Peter’s 223 mile,
14-day solo journey through the Ouachita Trail helped raise funds on
behalf of Potluck and increased the public’s awareness of the unique and
vital role the organization plays in the fight against hunger. "Life's most persistent and urgent question is: What are you doing for others?" - Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. |
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