Fulfilling a Mission With Empty Bowls

Hunger is always waiting around the corner, but for most of us it is easily beaten back with a quick trip to the kitchen or a call to DoorDash.

Others, however, are locked in a near-constant struggle with hunger, which, like water finding a leak, only needs a few missed meals to work its way into people’s lives and cause misery.

For almost 40 years, the Arkansas Foodbank has worked to keep that from happening. Beset by more challenges and greater demand than it has ever seen, the Foodbank has innovated and overcome, sharpening its resources to fulfill its mission of reaching those in need.

“In the past two years, more Arkansans have experienced food insecurity than ever before, many turning to the Foodbank for the very first time,” says Laine Harper, communications and marketing director for the Foodbank. “We know that the fight against hunger is far from over, and we now feel an obligation to our community to continue to meet this increased need for however long the need exists.”

It may be the largest hunger-fighting entity in a state the USDA ranked second in food insecurity, but the limits of the Foodbank’s resources are regularly tested. It was further challenged when hunger found an ally in the COVID-19 pandemic, which caused job losses and layoffs to put an even greater number of Arkansans in need.

The Foodbank has risen to the occasion and continues its fight against hunger, and help is on the way in the form of Empty Bowls, the Foodbank’s primary fundraiser and one of its two major events of the year. With Empty Bowls celebrating its 20th year, the Foodbank has tapped longtime supporters Tony and Audra Thomas to serve as chairs for the occasion.

“When we were asked to chair this year’s event, we were humbled and quickly agreed to serve,” Audra says. “Empty Bowls is the signature annual fundraiser for the Foodbank, and we hope individuals and companies will join us as we celebrate the 20th anniversary of the event and support the fight against hunger.”

Personal Touch

Tony is a veteran of the communications industry and has been CEO of voice and data communications services provider Windstream Holdings since 2014. Audra, a doctor of pharmacy with a certification in pharmacotherapy, is an Illinois native who served as an attack helicopter repairman in the Illinois Army National Guard.

She currently volunteers as a pharmacist vaccinator for the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) and the Arkansas Department of Health.

Married in 1996, the Thomases have two children and live in Little Rock.

“We believe the Arkansas Foodbank fills a vital role providing healthy and nutritious food to Arkansans,” Tony says. “Providing food for children and families in need is important to enable children to continue learning and growing and to help alleviate the stress that families experience around food insecurity.”

The Thomases aren’t simply ceremonial chairpersons. As business persons and as a family, they have logged their time with the Foodbank.

Tony notes that since its founding in 2006, Windstream has supported the Arkansas Foodbank through food drives and sponsored events, while employees have donated volunteer time.

“More personally, our children also greatly influenced our involvement,” Audra says. “They went on elementary school field trips to the Arkansas Rice Depot, which merged with the Arkansas Foodbank in 2016. As students at Little Rock Christian Academy, they participated in various school service projects and youth group events supporting the Foodbank.”

Bank Job

Feeding the state’s hungry and fighting food insecurity is challenging enough, but the Foodbank has also had to face challenges within challenges. Harper says the Foodbank has always wrestled with the triple-headed problem of sourcing enough food to meet the needs of its 33-county service area, providing nutritious options and matching capacity to need, especially in the state’s more rural and impoverished areas.

“People can’t work or learn if they are undernourished,” Harper says. “And people have to make choices based on the circumstances they are in; too often, going without food to pay for other necessities is one of those choices.

“Arkansas Foodbank helps bridge the gap and connect people to resources they need for nutritious food.”

The nonprofit Arkansas Foodbank came into being in 1984 to serve counties in the state’s south-central region, providing affordable food to local agencies helping the hungry. It distributed 1 million pounds of food in its first year and joined the Feeding America national network in 1989. It is also a member of the Arkansas Hunger Relief Alliance.

The Foodbank has grown to include 450 partner agencies delivering more than 24 million pounds of food within the Foodbank’s service area. From the Donald W. Reynolds Distribution Center, built in south Little Rock in 2011, the Foodbank ships and picks up food daily in its eight trucks, operates multiple programs, packs backpacks for kids and trains and conducts volunteer and fundraising activities.

At the outset of 2016, the Foodbank and Arkansas Rice Depot merged their resources under the banner Arkansas Foodbank: United to Fight Hunger.

“Because of the generosity of Arkansans, the Foodbank has been able to do what was needed throughout central and southern Arkansas,” Harper says. “During the challenge of the pandemic, we had to look at all aspects of our work and adjust to get the job done. We have proven to ourselves what we can do, and we are a better organization for it.”

It’s Local

As the COVID-19 pandemic took root, it became clear the Foodbank’s distribution model was inadequate to face the new challenges. The Foodbank had to create new partnerships to ensure food went where it was needed, while the supply chain and transport issues affecting the rest of the nation also affected the local food distribution.

Employment changes, school closings, pandemic restrictions and COVID-19 illnesses affected people who ordinarily might not have needed help obtaining food, meaning the Foodbank had to teach thousands how to use its system while managing major inventory increases and the need for wider distribution.

For Audra, the former military member, it was a different kind of front line.

“In March 2020, our church became a temporary food distribution site,” she says. “We saw the need of those lined up to receive food in a time when many people were unable to work. Businesses had closed and putting food on the table was challenging. All hunger is local, and we wanted to partner with the Foodbank to alleviate some of the need.”

The Foodbank never closed during the pandemic, Harper says, and has fought back with some of the innovations and processes developed during the experience. New methods of outreach that included additional mobile distributions and new technology came into play, and the Foodbank turned some of its new, pandemic-related partnerships into regular distribution partners.

In many ways the dark days have left the Foodbank more efficient than before.

“Through all of the shortages and supply chain disruptions, we have enhanced our capacity for acquiring and distributing food for the future,” Harper says.

Bowl Season

The pandemic, of course, has had a long reach, forcing the cancellation or postponement of live events across the board, or leading to virtual versions of occasions like Empty Bowls.

“Over the last two years, we have changed every in-person event to accommodate current COVID-19 safety protocols,” Harper says. “As a result, we have not been able to host many of our supporters in person.”

That isn’t the case this year.

With a goal of $150,000, the live event will celebrate its 20th year on May 6 in Little Rock’s Robinson Center ballroom. Highlights include signature dishes from local chefs, live music, live and silent auctions and an array of bowls hand crafted by students and local artists.

Additionally, the Foodbank will honor board member D. Trent Roberts, who has been with the Foodbank since it began.

For those who aren’t the volunteer type, Empty Bowls provides a chance to help the Foodbank fill plates.

“We, as a state, need to support our neighbors to address the critical issue of food insecurity,” Tony says. “Many of us have never had to worry where our next meal will come from. That is not the case for hundreds of thousands of children, seniors and families in Arkansas. We are grateful to have the Arkansas Foodbank leading the effort to address hunger relief in our state.”

Empty Bowls
May 6, 7 p.m. • Robinson Center
arkansasfoodbank.org