Readers of the Herald-Leader and Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette can help feed the region's hungry by making monetary donations to the newspaper's Community Christmas Card.
Giving began Nov. 21 and will run through Dec. 31, said Sandy Robinson, Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette advertising operations manager. Donors who give $3 or more by 5 p.m. Dec. 20 will have their names published in the printed and digital replica editions of the newspaper Christmas Day. Donors may also request their names not be published.
All donations will benefit the Northwest Arkansas Food Bank, said Rusty Turner, Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette editor.
"This is one way as a business and as citizens of our local communities that we can help our friends and neighbors who need it," Turner said. "It's important for us to be a part of the community that we serve."
Food insecurity is a genuine concern in the region, said Kent Eikenberry, food bank president and CEO.
Over 65,000 people were food insecure in Northwest Arkansas before the pandemic, he said. That number is now 82,000 in Benton, Carroll, Madison and Washington counties, the four counties the food bank serves.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture defines food insecurity as a lack of consistent access to enough food for an active, healthy life.
The food bank was founded in 1988 and provides food to about 135 partner agencies that distribute food in the region, Eikenberry said.
The food bank and its partner agencies and programs provided food assistance 764,157 times in 2020, he said. More than 15.9 million pounds of food was distributed in 2020.
Ana Lopez, 56, of Fayetteville said she depends on a monthly visit to the Feed the 479 food pantry in Springdale to meet her family's needs.
Feed the 479 is a Northwest Arkansas Food Bank partner that started in 2014 and is an extension of the Compassion Center of Northwest Arkansas, according to the pantry's website.
Lopez has a disabled 23-year-old son and a 14-year-old son, she said. She's provided for both as a single mother for the last 15 years.
"Raising them alone is so hard," Lopez said. "We are always struggling."
Lopez works full-time as an administrative clerk with Washington Regional Medical Center, she said, and has worked as many as three jobs at a time to make ends meet.
Feed the 479 provides her family with about 10 healthy meals monthly, Lopez said.
"I hope they never stop," she said of the food pantry. "It is very important."
The needs for the region's hungry won't cease during the holiday season as families face rising utility costs in the winter and holiday spending, Eikenberry said.
"December is a big, big month for us," he said of food distribution.
Northwest Arkansas Food Bank also offers mobile food pantries. Accessibility to food pantry services can often be a barrier for people in rural communities, Eikenberry said.
"Either they don't have transportation or the pantry's not open during the hours that they can get there," he said.
The food bank is offering about 16 mobile food pantries in November alone in locations such as Berryville, Prairie Grove, Elkins and Green Forest, according to food bank resources.
Supporting school food pantries helps make food more accessible as well, Eikenberry said.
"By taking the food to where the kids are, it gets to where the families are," he said.
Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette readers donated $26,282 to the Community Christmas Card program last holiday season, second only to about $26,917 given in 2010, Robinson said. The program has been going on more than 20 years.
"The money raised through the Community Christmas Card last year allowed us to provide over 200,000 meals," Eikenberry said.
