Volunteers Have A ‘Calling’ To Serve
Posted: December 18, 2011 at 5:44 a.m.
Jim Snyder unloads food at Grace United Methodist Church. At left is coordinator Ella McGee.
Those are the reasons Ella McGee drove her pickup to Fayetteville on a cold, gray morning last week. She joined a long line of vehicles parked behind Life Source International, a nonprofit organization that helps individuals and families in need.
Ella McGee, coordinator of the Grace United Methodist Church food pantry, looks over donated items she’ll take back to the ch...
At A Glance
Samaritan Center
There are several food pantries that serve communities in Benton and Washington counties.
The Samaritan Community Center, a faith-based, nonprofit organization, operates food pantries in both Springdale and Rogers.
Debbie Rambo, executive director, said the Springdale pantry serves 60 to 70 families per week. In Rogers, about 150 families are served each week.
The Springdale pantry is open on Tuesdays and Thursdays. The Rogers pantry on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays.
“It takes a lot of volunteers and a lot of hours to operate the pantry twice a week. Luckily, we have a great bunch of volunteers, many of them have been here for more than five years,” Rambo said. An average of 12 volunteers a day and about 80 man hours a week are required to run the Springdale pantry: the numbers are 125 hours from 40 volunteers.
“We are seeing a much greater need than we have in the past. We are seeing a lot of first-time visitors to the pantry. For years we averaged about 12 percent new visitors a month, now more than 22 percent of the visitors are new to the program,” Rambo said.
Source: Staff Report
Volunteer Barbara Collins, left, and program coordinator Ella McGee fill orders in the church’s food pantry.
Baleigh Birdcreek, a sixth-grade students at Lingle Middle School in Rogers, loads a shopping cart with a bag of food to be d...
By The Numbers
Hunger Statistics
• More than 16 million children, or one in five children, go hungry each day.
• 17.2 million households, about one in seven, don’t know where the next meal is coming from.
• In October, unemployment stood at 6 percent in Benton County.
• 46.9 million people in the United States were living in poverty in 2010, the largest number of people in poverty in 52 years.
• Arkansas is one of nine states with the highest hunger rating at 18.6 percent. Nationally, 14.6 percent of families go hungry each day.
Source: Staff Report
Maria Hernandez, left, gathers items with the help of volunteers Martha Ringger, center, and Gloria Eby.
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