The Food Bank of Northeast Arkansas has received a 10-thousand-dollar grant from the Red Nose Day Fund to benefit their Backpack Program. The program serves 760 students on school campuses in Forrest City, Jonesboro, Nettleton, Tuckerman, Swifton, Monette, Leachville, Marmaduke, Lynn, Strawberry, and Maynard. The Food Bank of Northeast Arkansas Development Director Vicky Pillow tells why backpack programs are needed.
“Arkansas currently has the highest rate of overall hunger in the nation. Arkansas is tied with Mississippi for first and the state is also third in the nation for childhood hunger. We have such a high rate of food insecurity right now, which means that families don’t necessarily know where their next meal is coming from.”
The Backpack programs allow enough food for each student to have three meals and snacks everyday through the weekend. She tells what goes into the backpacks.
“We make sure the food that goes into the backpacks are easy for children to prepare. We are talking children as young as five and six years old are sometimes left on their own and have to fix their own meals. Everything has to be pop-topped or something that can be peeled open. We also allow things that can be put in the microwave with water.”
Pillow tells what some of the factors are that lead to the need for the backpack programs:
“We know there are a lot of struggling families out there. We know that in some circumstances grandparents are taking care of grandkids, or there may be a family of three or four that may be led by parents who are working minimum-wage jobs. There are all kinds of situations that might make a child or a family need a meal.”
The Red Nose Day Fund was created by film director and writer Richard Curtis, who is known for his work on films like “Notting Hill” and “Bridget Jones Diary”. The fund helps charities, such as Feeding America, which the Food Bank of Northeast Arkansas is a member of. The Food Bank of Northeast Arkansas is also a member of the Arkansas Hunger Relief Alliance.
