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The Food Bank of North Central Arkansas will hold its annual Empty Bowls fundraiser this evening at the Mountain Home High School cafeteria, an event its CEO says comes at a time when the need has never been greater.
Jeff Quick, CEO of the food bank, said the organization recorded its highest year of food distribution in its 43-year history. He pointed to the most recent USDA report, which again ranked Arkansas first in the nation for food insecurity, with nearly one in five households unable to consistently access adequate food.
“We have some significant issues,” Quick said Wednesday during a live appearance on KTLO ahead of the station’s primary election forums, which were held at the food bank. “That number of food insecure residents would equate to about five children in every school classroom who are food insecure. And that’s just unacceptable for us.”
The Empty Bowls event runs from 4 to 7 p.m. and features a meal and silent auction. Tickets are $15 and are available at the food bank, through Mountain Home High School students, board members and staff.
Auction items include local gift baskets, dining certificates and travel packages to Nashville, Napa Valley, New Orleans, New York, an Alaskan cruise, a week in Cortona, Italy, and an eight-day trip to Costa Rica.
Proceeds support the food bank’s efforts to provide food assistance and education programs throughout north central Arkansas. The organization, which began in 1982 as the Norfork Community Care Program serving flood victims, now distributes more than 4 million pounds of food annually as an affiliate member of Feeding America.
For more information, visit foodbanknca.org.
