Every day in Northwest Arkansas, nearly 100,000 lives are impacted by food insecurity.
For families facing food insecurity, it is extremely difficult to find affordable ingredients for a healthy diet. When making the choice between paying rent or utilities and feeding their families, there are simply no resources left to "splurge" on healthy food. Children's tummies are placated with cheap, calorie-dense foods to stave off hunger. Low-income parents are especially vulnerable to overeating once food becomes available. These are the situations in which we begin to see poorer diets, more obesity, and long-term effects on overall health and development.
ABOUT SAMARITAN MARKET
Samaritan Market, operated by Samaritan Community Center, is a self-serve food pantry that provides emergency food assistance and personal care items to 10,500 families (including 21,000 children), as well as providing case management services by licensed social workers. Each Market client meets with a volunteer encourager who inquires about the family's specific needs, shares basic referral information concerning services available outside SCC, and provides encouragement.
Unlike the typical food pantry in which clients receive a standard, pre-packaged bag of food, Samaritan Markets are set up to mirror the experience of shopping in a typical grocery store, allowing individuals to select the foods and personal care items that their family most needs and will enjoy consuming.
In response to the connection between poverty and obesity, Samaritan Market has developed a Healthy Foods Initiative that focuses on improving the overall nutritional quality of the food available within the Market.
Options include fresh organic produced harvested from the Samaritan Garden, fresh fruit, lean proteins and eggs.
Emergency food provisions distributed through Samaritan Market are often a critical nutritional link for at-risk families to help them avoid hunger and food insecurity. Will you partner with us in feeding our hungry neighbors?
A one-time gift of $100 provides 400 families with healthy sources of protein (one dozen eggs). A recurring monthly gift of $10 provides 10 families with a pound of lean turkey.
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