BETHEL HEIGHTS — For John Brecht, being on the board of directors of the Northwest Arkansas Food Bank isn’t a ceremonial position.

Brecht has been on the food bank’s board for close to a decade. In that time, he and other board members have actively worked to keep pace as the demand for the food bank has grown throughout the four Northwest Arkansas counties it serves: Benton, Carroll, Madison and Washington.

“With his direction, it’s a hands-on board,” saysMarge Wolf, the food bank’s president and chief executive officer. “It’s not just a board by name; it’s a board that works with people.”

Founded in 1988, the Northwest Arkansas Food Bank operates out of a 22,000-square-foot warehouse in Bethel Heights. It is a distribution center, providing food to 166 food pantries, senior centers, and nonprofit organizations so far this year - up from 128 such agencies in 2010.

The food bank has seen a consistent increase in demand during the economic struggles of recent years. The number of people whoannually benefit from the food bank is enough to fill Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium six times, Brecht says.

“One of my goals for the food bank going forward is to continue to have enough food to supply the needs of Northwest Arkansas,” Brecht says. “I don’t think people are aware of it - one in four children has food insecurity, and goes to bed hungry at night.”

Originally from Minnesota, Brecht moved to Northwest Arkansas in 1993. He is a partner in Crown Partners Executive Search, LLC.

He cites the Bible verse 1 Peter 4:10 as his inspiration for getting involved with the food bank. The verse states, “Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.”

Brecht has been on the organization’s board of directors for almost 10 years, and is in the second year of a twoyear term as chairman.

“I wanted to get involved and do something that would helps folks in Northwest Arkansas, because hunger’s not going away,” he says. “We’re seeing an increase in people utilizing the food bank, because the economy has not gotten back. It’s [affecting] everyone; it could be yourneighbor.”

The board has taken an active role during Brecht’s time as a member. One of the primary initiatives is going out into the Wal-Mart vendor community and finding companies to donate to the food bank.

That has become increasingly difficult to do in recent years, he says, as companies in the region have become more efficient over time, resulting in less waste and fewer donations to the food bank. The food bank will have to buy $500,000 worth of food in 2012 to keep its shelves stocked, nearly doubling the approximately $256,000 it spent just two years earlier.

“Companies used to rebrand or overrun stuff, and we would get all that,” Wolf says. “When the economy tightened up, these companies became more efficient, so that contributes to the fact that we’re getting a lot less.”

According to Wolf, the food bank used to see its heaviest demand in October, November and December, but now there is a consistent need year-round.

The board has also been involved in the planning of the third annual Jewels of Giving Gala, which benefits the food bank. The gala is from 7:30-10:30 p.m. Nov. 16 at the John Q. Hammons Convention Center. Tickets are $100.

Before the Jewels of Giving Gala came into existence,the food bank used to host multiple fundraising events. Switching to a single, large fundraiser has been beneficial to the food bank, Brecht says.

“As the complexity in themarket has changed, so has the increase in people getting knocks on their door [asking them] to support this and that,” Brecht says. Community response “is very good. The flip side of that, if wedon’t get the donations, we’re spending a lot of money to buy the food.” For more information about the Northwest Arkansas Food Bank, call (479) 872-8774 or visit

nwa foodbank.org

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Northwest Profile, Pages 37 on 11/04/2012