Wal-Mart To Donate Food To Needy
LOCAL FOOD BANK RECEIVES GREAT VALUE PRODUCTS, APPLES FROM COMPANY
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
SPRINGDALE — A local food bank received truckload of Great Value products and apples from Wal-Mart.
Wal-Mart and its charitable arm, the Wal-Mart Foundation, held a news conference Tuesday in Madison, Wis., to announce $32 million in money and in-kind donations to hunger relief e◊orts across the U.S.
That includes a refrigerated truck worth $80,000 and the Wal-Mart private label food donated to the Northwest Arkansas Food Bank in Bethel Heights, said Deisha Galverth, Wal-Mart spokeswoman.
Galverth said she did not have a dollar value for the truckload of food. Marge Wolf, director of the food bank, said she was pleased to get the quality of food she received Tuesday.
“The good thing with this foodis it is all good, nutritious food - apple sauce, peanut butter, vegetables, macaroni and cheese, items to make an entire meal from,” Wolf said.
The food bank services 118 other food pantries and food donation charities, which in turn distribute food to 90,000 clients throughout Benton, Carroll, Madison and Washington counties, Wolf said.
About 100,000 Northwest Arkansas residents experience hunger every week, according to Tyson Foods, which donates chicken, beef and pork to hunger relief e◊orts.
The need for food donations is up as the unemployment rate is above 6 percent in Northwest Arkansas and the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays are approaching.
“We literally are turningthings around the same day they come in. The food donations come in one door and go right out another one,” Wolf said.
The food bank donated 3.1 million pounds of food to other organizations in all of 2008 and already reached that amount as of Tuesday this year, Wolf said.
In addition, the food bank already bought more than $200,000 of food this year, the same amount the food bank spent to buy supplemental food in 2008,Wolf said.
“The other thing is the demographics have changed of the people getting in line to get food even from just a year ago. There are a lot of people in those lines” who are used to making donationsinstead of taking donations, she said.
The food bank is in greatest need of low-sugar, high-fi ber items such as granola bars and cereal; vegetables; fruits; and proteins such as peanut butter and tuna, Wolf said.
News, Pages 1 on 11/04/2009
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