United Way of North Central Arkansas and its partners recently conducted the third annual Tackle Hunger Food Drive to help stock the pantries of local organizations providing meals and food items to individuals in the community.
The food drive, which ran from Jan. 14 until Feb. 1, was held to benefit the local school backpack programs, which puts food in backpacks of needy children to ensure they have food each weekend, local food pantries, and groups providing hot meals to those in need.
In an effort to encourage community support and maximize donations, United Way turned the food drive into a competition and called it the Tackle Hunger Food Drive. The results of the competition are as follows:
1st Place-Citizens Bank with a total of 4,177 points
2nd Place-First Community Bank with a total of 2,830 points
3rd Place-Future Fuel with a total of 1,301 points
4th Place-Lyon College with a total of 1,028 points
5th Place-Bank of Cave City with a total of 427 points
6th Place-Southern Bank with a total of 392 points
7th Place-Las Playitas with a total of 150 points
8th Place-Merchants and Planters Bank with a total of 144 points
9th Place-Centennial Bank with a total of 140 points
10th Place-White River Medical Center with a total of 112 points
“As cliché as it may sound, there were no losers…only winners with this food drive,” Kimberly Tucker, executive director of United Way on North Central Arkansas said in a release. “The way this community comes together to support not only the children, but everyone in need is truly heartwarming. So many people put forth a lot of time, effort, and resources to help their neighbors in need. We want to thank everyone who participated in any way from the bottom of our hearts. Everyone worked together to make this the most successful Tackle Hunger Food Drive to date.”
The Tackle Hunger Food Drive was able to raise items needed for local schools’ backpack programs, food pantries, and organizations providing hot meals to those in need. These items included 323 Pop Tarts, 756 jars of peanut butter, 1,047 boxes of cereal, 305 cans of vegetables, and much, much more. The grand total of food items and monetary donations was $8,300.
If you would like more information about the Tackle Hunger Food Drive or would like to compete for the Super Bowl of Caring Trophy, contact the United Way office for more details at (870) 793-5991 or info@liveunitednca.org.
Pictured, from left: Jeff Mead, Phil Baldwin, Tracy McClurg and Janet Moore of Citizens Bank. McClurg coordinated the food drive for the bank. Mead and Moore are on the United Way Board with Moore serving as the 2019 board president.
Citizens Bank employees who helped sort food donations to be distributed to local citizens served by the United Way of North Central Arkansas.
United Way officials joined bank staff members in posing in front of a virtual wall of food donations collected during the “Super Bowl of Caring” Tackle Hunger food drive. / Images via United Way of North Central Arkansas
