WalMart stores throughout the state of Arkansas are donating grocery products to local food relief agencies.

The Food Bank of North Central Arkansas will be participating in WalMart’s grocery product donation program.  The donor program went into action last week in Stone County–the recipient of the Mountain View WalMart donated grocery products is the Stone County Community Food Ministry (see photo)–one of the many agencies of the Food Bank of North Central Arkansas.

The Stone county Communty Food Ministry is directed by Jim and Sandy Qualls of Mountain View, Arkansas and is located on Luther Avenue in Mountain View by the Dorcas House.  The pantry is open Wednesdays and Thursdays from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon.  They serve approximately 340 families each month from the Mountain View area.

The Food Bank of North Central Arkansas (FBNCA) is actively participating in Feeding America’s national study, Hunger in America 2009—the fifth national study of charitable response to domestic hunger by surveying the food bank’s own hunger relief agencies and performing random client interviews.

Jay Byerley, a former University of Arkansas Mountain Home psychology instructor and current resident of Mountain Home, has volunteered to serve as the Hunger Study Coordinator with the help of his wife, Judy,  several FBNCA’s board members and other community volunteers.

The Hunger in America 2009 study began on February 26th in Searcy County—since that date 95 clients have been interviewed from 14 agencies.  The hunger study is to be completed nationwide by April 26. 

The completed Hunger In America 2009 study will serve as an authoritative source of information on private, domestic hunger relief in our service area.  The regional report (projected to be released early 2010) derived from data collected from the nine-county area served by the Food Bank of North Central Arkansas will inform local public and policy makers about the magnitude and scope of the hunger problem in north central Arkansas as well as serve as a strategic planning tool for the Food Bank of North Central Arkansas.

This “Posting” is a new thing for me.  I’ve been thinking about the best way to go about it and decided that I would just try to approach it like a patch-work quilt.  You know, put your hand in the scrap bag and “be surprised”!  Piece it together one block at a time as it comes. 

February 2009 brought us the worst ice storm in a century up here in north central Arkansas!  Beautiful trees just split from stem to stern with limps popping and snapping like firecrackers during the night.  Pitiful sound!  Heartbreaking sight!

For the people, relief was quick.  Emergency shelters and soup kitchens were set up immediately for those without power and to feed the utility and volunteer crews. Thousands across our nine country service area were without power for weeks and the massive clean-up continues.

The Food Bank of North Central Arkansas distributed thousands of pounds of emergency food to shelters and soup kitchens during this time.  Many of our agencies (especially the Salvation Army, out of Baxter County) were in “high gear” during this time meeting the need.  The Norfork Volunteer Fire Department worked double duty getting meals to those without power and assisting in our emergency distribution.

A huge THANK YOU to all involved in the ice storm recovery.