BETHEL HEIGHTS — The Northwest Arkansas Food Bank received about 9,000 pounds of chicken on Tuesday. It won’t stay there long.
“This chicken will be gone in a few days,” said Marge Wolf, chief executive officer of the food bank.
The food bank distributes to 165 food pantries across Northwest Arkansas. That number is growing, Wolf said.
Web Watch
Northwest Arkansas Food Bank
To learn more about the Northwest Arkansas Food Bank and how to donate, visit www.nwafoodbank.org
Pantry representatives arrive every 30 minutes to pick up food and common household items such as diapers, soap and paper towels. The pantries in turn will give those items to their clients.
Tuesday’s chicken donation came as the result of a partnership between Smart Chicken and Harps Food Stores. It’s the 10th straight year they’ve made such a donation.
Smart Chicken donates to the food bank a percentage of the chicken it sells in Harps stores each November.
“Every food bank will tell you their need has grown,” said Joe Horvath, a Smart Chicken account manager. “It gives us a good feeling to serve the community.”
The donation of organic breasts, drumsticks, thighs and leg quarters has a retail value of about $22,500, Horvath said.
Chicken donations are valued because of the need for protein, which is the hardest thing to get for the hungry, Wolf said.
The Northwest Arkansas Food Bank is on pace to distribute about 6.5 million pounds of food this year. That would be a record for the agency and an increase of almost 10 percent over last year’s total.
This time of year, Wolf said, there are more donations, but there’s just as much need in the communities the food bank serves.
“It goes in one door and goes out the other,” Wolf said about donations.
The food bank operates in a 22,000-square-foot facility in Bethel Heights. Eleven employees — nine full time, two part time — keep the facility running.
While the food bank receives many donations, officials are having to purchase an increasing amount of food to keep up with the pantries’ demand. Food bank officials spend more than $500,000 per year to supplement donations, Wolf said.
Food is always needed, but so are common household items.
“If you think about the basic stuff in your house, a lot of people don’t have that,” Wolf said.