SPRINGDALE -- Tyson Foods wants to use Northwest Arkansas' trails to help beat hunger.
About 150 Tyson employees and family members turned out Tuesday evening for the launch of the company's Miles That Matter program, which over the summer will donate a pound of protein -- whether it's chicken or another meat -- for every mile an employee runs, bikes or walks on a trail. The program will send up to 25 tons of food to the Northwest Arkansas Food Bank.
Web watch
To learn more about the Northwest Arkansas Food Bank and its efforts, go to www.nwafoodbank.org.
Under a clear evening sky at Springdale's Shiloh Memorial Park, Tuesday's crowd earned about 500 pounds of food, according to attendance numbers from spokesman Worth Sparkman. Besides getting employees active and drumming up support for the food bank, the program also is testing an idea that could spread to the company's hundred or so other locations, Sparkman said.
"We've got this just fantastic resource," he said Monday, referring to the growing system of trails branching from the 37-mile Razorback Greenway. "We're building something with our workforce and helping them just be more active and lead more active and healthy lifestyles."
More than 400 of Tyson's 9,500 employees in Benton and Washington counties have signed up, Sparkman added, and group rides and runs such as Tuesday's will keep happening until around September. One's set for this evening with two laps around Lake Fayetteville, he said.
"It's just a cool way to do something with the co-workers and do something for people -- a way to give back," runner and information systems employee Claudia Ponce said as she stretched before the kickoff. She said she planned to stick with the program all summer long.
The Northwest Arkansas Food Bank distributes millions of pounds of food annually through about 180 pantries, shelters and other agencies in four counties, according to its website. While the up to 50,000 pounds from Tyson is a small fraction of the food bank's total, it will help make about 42,000 meals, said Carrie Harlow, the agency's development and finance director.
"It makes a huge, huge difference," Harlow said Tuesday. Protein's a pricier type of food and is particularly valuable for people in need who might go without it to save money, she said. "When we get it, we're super excited."
Northwest Arkansas has a reputation for rapid growth and relative prosperity, but tens of thousands of people each year face hunger or food insecurity, a term meaning they don't have reliable or continuous access to affordable and healthful food, according to the food bank. The young and old are particularly affected.
"One in four are hungry every day," Harlow said, adding the area's tight job market can push people who could otherwise make reasonable livings into low-paying or part-time work. "What we see is a lot of people still working, but they're underemployed."
Harlow encouraged residents to give to food and fundraising drives or volunteer any time.
Tyson's Miles that Matter effort stems from its ongoing Meals That Matter program, which delivers emergency food to people affected by disasters such as Joplin's 2011 EF-5 tornado in Missouri or Hurricane Sandy on the East Coast, Sparkman said.
It's also part of the company's larger push to revitalize Springdale and the surrounding area. Tyson last year donated $1 million to the Downtown Springdale Alliance and announced plans to bring new offices to Emma Avenue.
NW News on 06/29/2016