Many children are vulnerable to hunger until school starts again in the fall...

Being Hungry Doesn't End When School Does

One of the most difficult times of the year for low-income families is during the summer. When schools close their doors for summer vacation, more than 40,000 children in Pulaski County who meet criteria to receive free or reduced-price school meals during the academic year no longer have this important service available to them and are vulnerable to real nutritional setbacks until the school year begins again in the fall.

The KIDS’ PANTRY was developed to better meet the needs of kids at-risk by increasing their opportunity to receive healthy food when school is not in session – after school, over the holiday and during the summer – throughout the year.

Weekly deliveries of a wide variety of nutritious food for daily snacks and meals are made to PANTRY sites located in under-served areas throughout Pulaski County. (Sites in Eudora and El Dorado retrieve food from Potluck once a week.)

On average, each site receives over 780 pounds of food that includes: meat, meat dishes, vegetables, side dishes, fruit, salads and more, making it possible for children to take home food to share with their families during the week and/or over the weekend.
In 2009, the KIDS’ PANTRY helped feed more than 7,000 youngsters 5 to 17 years old* at 56 sites – with all locations reporting a significant increase in attendance (from 28% to 35%) from May through August.

A child’s need for nutritious food is essential every day, all year long – and doesn’t end when school lets out for the day – or summer.

For more information about the KIDS’ PANTRY, visit  http://www.potluckfoodrescue.org/programs.php.

(*44% of children served by the KIDS’ PANTRY are 8 – 10 years old; 24% are 11 – 13 years old; 20% are 5 – 7 years old and 12% are 14 – 17 years old.) 

The 3 Rs: Rescue, Re-use, Recycle

Potluck was founded on the uncomplicated yet visionary concept that excess food should be put to good use by rescuing, re-using and recycling it to help feed someone who is hungry rather than have it go to waste.

We recover a wide variety of excess high quality prepared, fresh and frozen food that would otherwise go to waste and distribute it free of charge to a broad and diverse network of community programs that help feed hungry men, women and children by tapping all segments of the food industry and community including healthcare facilities, quick serve restaurants, caterers, hotels, corporate cafeterias, specialty markets, production companies, schools, religious organizations, farms, farmerís markets, bakeries, wholesalers and food drives.

Our food rescue efforts help meet the need for emergency food in low-income communities and support complimentary programs like the KIDS’ PANTRY to help meet the needs of children at-risk and the Food Station Network that increases the capacity of agencies we serve.

As the states’ only food rescue organization, Potluck has seen the benefits of putting more than 40 million pounds of good food to good use throughout central Arkansas and in other parts of the state to provide prepared meals on site or in pantry bags to the working poor, children, seniors and homeless individuals families and others, by wholeheartedly embracing the 3 R’s – rescue, re-use and recycle – for over twenty years.

Carol Herzog

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

  Photographs by Nancy Nolan Photography