Arvest Bank Siloam Springs recently held a "Strike Out Hunger" food drive as part of the bank's company-wide 1 Million Meals initiative, and Allen Elementary School proved itself to be a most valuable partner.

Arvest's Junior Executive Bank Board, a club for juniors and seniors at Siloam Springs High School, kicked off the food drive with a fun assembly and challenged each class to raise at least 100 food items. Over the next 10 days, Allen students raised more than 45,000 cans of food. This effort greatly helped Arvest reach its halfway point (546,302 meals) during the week of April 27. Now the bank is focused on achieving its goal of raising one million meals to fight hunger in the more than 120 communities the bank serves throughout its four-state footprint.

"We were blown away at the amount of food these kids collected," said Lindsey Taylor, Marketing Manager for Arvest Bank Siloam Springs. "Every classroom went above and beyond any expectation we had, and we are so excited to give this donation to the Manna Center."

As a result of the success of the food drive, the winning classes in each grade got to celebrate with a pizza party. The Northwest Arkansas Naturals mascot, Strike, visited Allen Elementary to take pictures and hand out prizes. Ms. George's first-grade class and Mrs. Kidd's second-grade class were the big winners. Autumn Pledger brought the most food and will get to serve as the team's bat kid at a future Naturals game and Brayden Lipsmeyer got second and will get to throw out the first pitch at the same game.

Arvest is conducting its annual initiative in the spring for the second consecutive year due to the fact food banks report an increased need for food items in the summer, when many children do not have the benefit of eating meals at the schools they attend. In July 2015, for example, less than 9,500 students in Arkansas who participated in the National School Lunch Program participated in the summer program. According to the Food Research and Action Center, that's compared to the more than 244,000 students who received a free or reduced-price lunch -- on average -- during the 2014-2015 school year

Arvest Bank kicked off the two-month, bank-wide effort today to provide at least one million meals to local, hungry families, and it will continue through June 3. The initiative will conclude later that month, when donations are presented to 72 local organizations that feed the hungry in their communities.

Arvest Bank in Siloam Springs has partnered with The Manna Center for the duration of the initiative. All donations received will go to provide meals to local, hungry families. Siloam Springs residents can participate in 1 Million Meals by dropping off nonperishable food items or making monetary donations at any Arvest branch or by calling 866-952-9523. Arvest credit card customers also can donate Arvest Flex Rewards™ points by visiting arvestflexrewards.com and clicking on the 1 Million Meals banner. Every dollar raised through 1 Million Meals provides the equivalent of five meals for those in need.

Each of Arvest Bank's 72 recipient organizations was selected on a local basis. For more information about 1 Million Meals, visit arvest.com/millionmeals.