2011 Summer Cereal Drive
Tessie Kentner of Southwest Power Pool of Little Rock, which was
the overall winner of the Business Division of the Cereal Drive,
with Tom Brannon of Today's THV. More photos: www.flickr.com/photos/arfoodbank/
A record Summer Cereal Drive: 212,873 boxes
Little Rock, July 8, 2011— A total of 212,873 boxes of cereal were donated to the Arkansas Foodbank in the 2011 Today’s THV Summer Cereal Drive, surpassing the record set last year of 195,876.
In the 11 years that Tom Brannon has hosted the cereal drive on his “THV This Morning” show on Channel 11, more than 1 million boxes of cereal have been donated to the Foodbank.
The cereal is being distributed to hungry families in Arkansas through food pantries in the Arkansas Foodbank’s 33-county service area.
Brannon announced the results on the morning show today.
In the competitive Business Division, Southwest Power Pool, a company that manages the electrical grid in nine southwestern states, won the overall award with a total of 24,868 boxes of cereal donated to the Foodbank.
Results for the three divisions were as follows:
• School division: 26,351 boxes
• Business division: 124,832
• Community division: 61,690
• GRAND TOTAL: 212,873
James Staats, the general manager of the Golden Corral restaurant in North Little Rock was also a huge help in making the drive a success. He hosted breakfasts for participants in the school and business divisions and worked as a volunteer alongside Foodbank staff members during Brannon’s broadcasts, helping to count the boxes of cereal as they were donated and loading donated cereal onto trucks.
Knight’s groceries, Walmart, Brookshire’s and Kroger all provided sites for Brannon’s remote broadcasts near the entrances to their stores.
The Knight’s grocery chain hosted remote broadcasts in Beebe and Cabot, where they offered a special “11 for $11” discount on cereal that gave customers 11 boxes of cereal for $11. Many customers immediately donated the cereal to the Cereal Drive by placing them in donation boxes in the stores or in Brannon’s staging area immediately upon leaving the stores.
Walmart provided sites for THV to set up at stores in Bryant, Russellville, Conway, Clinton and Hot Springs and placed donation boxes in the stores to collect cereal. Walmart has been a longtime supporter of the Cereal Drive and has helped the Arkansas Foodbank with donations of food and produce through the Foodbank’s retail pickup program that collects produce and food products from markets.
Brookshire’s food and pharmacy stores in Malvern, Arkadelphia and Pine Bluff hosted the Cereal Drive broadcasts and participated in the drives.
The community cereal drive concluded with a broadcast from the Kroger supermarket on Chenal in Little Rock. Kroger is also a participant in the retail pickup program and a longtime supporter of the Foodbank and its work to end hunger in Arkansas.
The community that raised the most for the drive during the broadcasts was Cabot, with 16,104 boxes.
Food collected at the broadcast sites was taken directly to nearby pantries, so the local areas surrounding the drive collection points benefitted directly from the cereal collected. Foodbank partner agencies that participated included Cornerstone Nazarene Church in Bryant, Libby’s ROSE in Malvern, Community Family Enrichment in Arkadelphia, The First Assembly of God church in Russellville, Crosspoint Ministries and MannaFest Blessings food pantries in Beebe, the Soul Food Cafe Mission in Conway, Van Buren Food 4 Life in Clinton, Faith Fellowship Pantry in Hot Springs, Cabot Church of Christ pantry in Cabot, and the Share a Prayer pantry in Pine Bluff.
BUSINESS DIVISION
In the Business Division, besides Southwest Power Pool’s 24,868 boxes, other top contributors in each division were as follows: Division 1- Margland; Division 2-Everett Buick Pontiac; Division 3-Arkansas Foundation for Medical Care; Division 4- Cardinal Health; Division 5- Arkansas Children’s Hospital, and Division 6-Geyer Springs First Baptist Church.
The Arkansas Foodbank is the largest food bank in Arkansas. It is a member of Feeding America and the Arkansas Hunger Relief Alliance. Its warehouse serves 300 food pantries, soup kitchens, shelters and other agencies that provide aid directly to hungry Arkansans. Last year it distributed 13.3 million pounds of food to help feed people who go hungry.
2011 Summer Cereal Drive Final Results
TOTAL RAISED IN 2011: 212,873
• School Drive: 26,351
• Business Drive Totals (Boxes and Dollars): 124,832
• Live Remote Totals: 61,690
TOTAL RAISED IN 2010: 195,457
TOTAL RAISED IN 11 YEARS: 1,225,982
2011 Business Drive at a Glance
Number of Business Drive Teams: 79
Overall Business Drive Winner: Southwest Power Pool – 24,868
• Division One
Number of Teams – 27
Winners:
1. Margland – 12,234
2. Northwestern Mutual – 2110
3. Arkansas Sheriff’s Association - 1500
• Division Two
Number of Teams: 12
Winners:
1. Everett Buick Pontiac – 4111
2. Clinton Presidential Center – 1784
3. Birchtree Communities - 512
• Division Three
Number of Teams: 12
Winners:
1. Arkansas Foundation for Medical Care – 4050
2. Qual-Choice – 1912
3. Tyson Foods - 1379
• Division Four
Number of Teams: 10
Winners:
1. Cardinal Health – 10,833
2. Central Arkansas Water – 3531
3. Rivendell - 878
• Division Five
Number of Teams: 10
Winners:
1. Arkansas Children’s Hospital – 9973
2. Arkansas Heart Hospital – 1769
3. Conway Regional Health System - 975
• Division Six
Number of Teams: 9
Winners:
1. Geyer Springs First Baptist Church – 2122
2. St. Mark Baptist Church Yes Camp – 485
3. Second Baptist Church - 333s
Live Remote Totals by Location
Site Boxes Donated
Bryant Walmart 563
Malvern Brookshires 5,037
Arkadelphia Brookshires 4,042
Russellville Walmart 2,033
Beebe Knight’s Grocery 6,473
Conway Walmart 4,128
Clinton Walmart 6,150
Hot Springs Walmart 2,885
Cabot Knight’s Grocery 16,104
Pine Bluff Brookshires 7,236
Little Rock Chenal Kroger 7,039
Tom Brannon of Today's THV on his 11th annual Breakfast Tour to collect boxes of cereal for the THV Summer Cereal Drive. Brannon broadcast from the Wal-Mart Super Center in Conway where more than 4,000 boxes of cereal were added to the total. Cereal contributed to the Foodbank goes directly to local food pantries, soup kitchens and shelters near the collection sites. The agencies use it to help feed hungry Arkansans.
SEE VIDEO FROM THE BREAKFAST TOUR . . .
SEE A VIDEO OF TWO GIRLS IN ARKADELPHIA CONTRIBUTING TO THE DRIVE ...
Schedule for the 2011 Breakfast Tour
Week 1 - (The I-30 Breakfast Tour)
June 15th - Bryant - Wal-Mart Super Center (564 Boxes Collected)
June 16th - Malvern - Brookshire's (5,037 Boxes)
June 17th - Arkadelphia - Brookshire's (4,042 Boxes)
Week 2 - (The Highway 64/65 Breakfast Tour)
June 21st - Russellville - Wal-Mart Super Center (2,011 Boxes)
June 22nd - Beebe - Knight's Grocery (6,484 Boxes)
June 23rd - Conway - Wal-Mart Super Center on Highway 65 (4,008 Boxes)
June 24th - Clinton - Walmart Super Center
Week 3 - (The "couldn't come up with a name for this tour" - tour)
June 28th - Hot Springs - Wal-Mart Super Center on Central Ave.
June 29th - Cabot - Knight's Grocery
June 30th - Pine Bluff - Brookshire's on Hazel Street
July 1st - Little Rock - Kroger on Chenal Parkway
PRINTED 12x17" POSTERS ARE AVAILABLE BY CALLING 565-8121. Or you can download a PDF of the posters by clicking the images of trhe posters below.
