 Arkansas has only one food rescue organization...  |
When there’s good food that’s going unused – rescuing it so it can be put into the hands of those who need it the most makes good sense. Potluck is proof that the smart idea of food rescue can be transformed into a fully-functioning and efficient operation that helps feed at-risk children, adults and families throughout the state. Snapshot of 2009 • Potluck rescued more than 4.5 million pounds of high quality food from 228 local and out of area food donors – vs. collecting over 4.2 million pounds of food from 210 donors in 2008. A wide variety of prepared, perishable and frozen food valued at over $7 million was rescued from restaurants, hospitals, caterers, farmers, corporate cafeterias, farmer’s markets, specialty food stores, bakeries, dairies, schools, religious organizations, wholesalers and distributors. • In 2009, many agencies in our network had a particularly difficult time putting food on the table and/or keeping shelves stocked. To help them better meet great and growing community needs, we broadened food rescue efforts to include collecting nonperishable food from drives led by individuals. • Food was distributed free of charge to a broad and diverse network of 147 community food programs that helped feed over 5,500 children, adults, families and seniors each week in central Arkansas and the state. Recipient organizations included: KIDS’ PANTRYsites serving children at-risk, soup kitchens, day centers for seniors, veterans – homeless shelters, women’s emergency shelters, food pantries and food banks that shared food with organizations throughout the state. • In 2009 Potluck began “mixing it up” to better meet the needs of children at-risk. To ensure that youngsters had a wide variety of nutritious food for daily snacks and meals when school is not in session throughout the year, all KIDS’ PANTRY sites received food that was mixed at headquarters prior to delivery. Food is delivered to local PANTRY sites once a week. In 2009, sites received a total of more than 1. 8 million pounds of food that helped feed youngsters throughout the year. • Maine/Stay, Potluck’s referral-based pantry program developed to help families meet immediate emergency food needs while they connect with other helping services distributed over 6,400 pounds of food to 57 households (63 adults and 174 children). In 2009 referrals came from Arkansas Voices, Argenta CDC, DHS and Pathways.
Many households earn too much to be eligible for food
stamps or other types of food assistance, but they still struggle to
feed their families. Here in Arkansas, according to the National Center
for Children in Poverty, that means that a family of four with an
annual household gross income of about $27,000 earns too much to
qualify for food stamps – but would need to earn an income of nearly
$50,000 a year to be considered self-sufficient. Subsidized school food programs, while helpful, are limited to school-aged children, school days, school hours, and are unable to meet children’s daily needs throughout the year. The KIDS’ PANTRY is Arkansas’ only charitable out-of-school meal program exclusively developed to provide children at-risk with good food for meals when school is not in session throughout the year. Along with meals, PANTRY sites offer youngsters a variety of structured, positive activities in safe, adult-supervised surroundings. In 2009, the KIDS’ PANTRY helped feed 7,000 kids by providing 56 sites throughout Pulaski County and in high-risk communities of El Dorado, Eudora and Texarkana with over 1.8 million pounds of a wide variety of food that provided children with daily snacks and dinner meals after school – and daily snacks and lunch and dinner meals over the summer. Feed a child and you help feed an entire family as well “…You’ve made it possible for us to feed children that are from families where food is a big problem. Because of Potluck, we’re not only feeding kids here at the program every day after school and during the summer, we’re also able to send leftover food home with kids to make sure whole families get to eat as well...” – Pat Jackson Director, We Care (KIDS’ PANTRY site, Hensley, Arkansas) “ …Unfortunately, our kids are unable to count on having enough food to go around at home so thanks to you, the daily, home-cooked meals we offer them here at the program are not only the best they have during the day – for most of our kids – it’s the only meal available to them until breakfast at school the next day. We thank you, our kids thank you and our parents thank you for being such a blessing to this community and helping make our after-school and summer program such a tremendous success…” – Pastor Deena Hamilton, McCabe Chapel UMC Director, New Horizons (KIDS’ PANTRY site, North Little Rock) “…The food we receive is outstanding. The first thing our kids ask when they walk in the door after school is “What’s for dinner, Miss Donna?”. Every day, all year long, our kids are eating healthy and nutritious meals that, because of family circumstances, are not regularly available to them at home. Thank you for supporting our program, our community and your dedication to making sure no child goes without…” – Donna Holmes Program Director, My Task After School (KIDS’ PANTRY site, McAlmont) Photographs by Nancy Nolan Photography |
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