For the next month, Walmart and Sam’s Club shoppers in Arkansas and across the country will have the opportunity to support local hunger relief efforts at the register.
Through May 3, shoppers will be able to round up or donate while checking out as part of the 13th annual “Fight Hunger. Spark Change” campaign, a national partnership between Feeding America and Walmart that supports local Feeding America food banks around the country.
In Arkansas, donations will go to the Arkansas Foodbank, the local Feeding America food bank, which describes itself as the state’s largest hunger relief organization. The organization serves much of central, south and east Arkansas and distributes food from its warehouse to a network of local pantries, schools and shelters.
“We are so excited to partner with the Arkansas Foodbank,” Walmart Vision Center Development Coach Rhonda Johnson said Monday at a news conference at the Walmart on Bowman Road in west Little Rock.
“Every dollar matters,” Johnson said. “Make sure that you donate when you come into our Walmart and Sam’s Clubs.”
Arkansas Foodbank CEO Brian Burton said at the news conference that last year’s campaign yielded more than $188,000 for the food bank.
“The food bank doesn’t do this work alone,” Burton added. “Our 100,000-square-foot warehouse on 65th Street would quickly become a ‘food museum’ if it wasn’t for almost 400 pantry partners, scattered across these 33 counties, that actually move the food, that actually serve the people and carry them through life’s ups and downs.”
Shoppers can also contribute to “Fight Hunger. Spark Change” by donating online or purchasing food items made by companies that are participating in the fundraiser, including Dole, Frito-Lay, Hershey and Kellogg’s. Every participating item purchased at a Walmart or Sam’s Club translates into an additional donation for local hunger relief efforts.
“Funds raised through the campaign help Arkansas Foodbank prioritize nutritious food, including fresh produce, dairy and protein — foods families want and need,” according to a news release. “The support also strengthens local food pantries and meal programs, ensuring neighbors can access food in ways that are dignified and welcoming.”
Lascelles Lyn-Cook Jr., who heads community outreach at Hunter United Methodist Church in Little Rock, said at the news conference that his church’s food pantry has benefited greatly from its retail rescue partnership — through which Walmart diverts unsold food items — with the Bowman store.
“When I first took over with the food pantry, we were able to provide maybe 25 to 35 boxes of food, but now we go at least 160 because of the additional food that we get weekly from Walmart,” Lyn-Cook said.
The food pantry is monthly, Lyn-Cook said, and the 160 boxes feed roughly 500 to 600 people.
A federal report in January ranked Arkansas the hungriest state in the country for the third consecutive year.
The report, which relied on survey responses, estimated that 19.4% of households in Arkansas were food insecure, significantly higher than the 13.3% national average.
“We’ve been through some really hard few months here, with the government shutdown and a tumultuous economy and a lot of uncertainty,” Burton said. “But this is something we can control and we can shape and make better.”
