AFN Audit (PDF)About Us
Almost half a million Arkansans live in poverty.
Almost half a million Arkansans live in poverty. The Arkansas Foodbank Network has been working since 1984 to eliminate hunger in Arkansas by providing nutritious food to those in need. In 2009, we distributed 14.2 million pounds of food – 2.6 million to the state’s other five certified food banks and 11.6 million to our 400 member agencies in 33 central and southern Arkansas counties. That amounts to handling about 57,000 pounds each day! Ninety-five percent of everything the Foodbank receives is allocated to programs, enabling our agencies to serve about 23,000 hungry Arkansans in any given week.
Often when we visualize a hungry person, one of two pictures comes to mind: either a small child halfway around the world with a distended stomach or a person on the side of the road holding a "will work for food" sign. But hunger in Arkansas is much more than these stereotypical images we hold in our minds.
In 2009, the Arkansas Foodbank Network participated in a landmark hunger study in conjunction with Feeding America, the nation's network of food banks and the largest domestic hunger relief organization. From March through June, Foodbank staff members conducted face-to-face interviews with 445 people seeking emergency food at food pantries, soup kitchens and other emergency feeding programs, as well as interviews with 239 agencies that provide food assistance. The results were used to paint a picture of hunger on a local and national scale.
- 35% of the members of households served by the Arkansas Foodbank Network are children under 18 years of age.
- 8% are elderly, and 27% of seniors served by the Arkansas Foodbank Network face very low food security - or hunger
- 27% of households include at least one employed adult.
Many clients reported having to choose between food and other necessities:
- 52% of clients served by the Arkansas Foodbank Network report having to choose between paying for food and paying for utilities or heating fuel.
- 34% have to choose between paying for food and paying for medicine or medical care.
- 39% have to choose between paying for food and paying for rent or mortgage.
The Arkansas Foodbank Network is a member of Feeding America, a group of more than 200 food banks and the nation’s largest domestic hunger relief organization. Feeding America monitors its agencies regularly to ensure compliance with acceptable food handling, storage and distribution standards and practices. Additionally, Feeding America supports the emergency food system by obtaining food from national organizations, such as major food companies. The Arkansas Foodbank Network is able to bring in more than half of the food it distributes to hungry Arkansans from out-of-state.
The Arkansas Foodbank Network is a member of:
Feeding America - President Obama 
Feeding America (Formerly America's Second Harvest - The Nation's Food Bank Network).
Feeding America provides low-income individuals and families with the fuel to survive and even thrive. As the nation's leading domestic hunger-relief charity, our network members supply food to more than 25 million Americans each year, including 9 million children and 3 million seniors. Serving the entire United States, more than 200 member food banks operate 63,000 agencies that address hunger in all of its forms. For more information on how you can fight hunger in your community and across the country, visit www.feedingamerica.org.
The Arkansas Foodbank Network is a founding member of the Arkansas Hunger Relief Alliance, a statewide organization with the goal of maximizing efficiency and equitability by procuring, distributing and transporting food to all counties in Arkansas . arhungeralliance.org
The Arkansas Foodbank Network is a proud member of the United Way agency who supports health and human services organizations in Central Arkansas and partners with local agencies on special projects and programs that benefit our community. heartaruw.org