Mark Evans and Feed Arkansas Kids
Providing Weekend Meals for Hungry Children
Feed Arkansas Kids is a non-profit organization that provides weekend meals for homeless and poverty-stricken children in Central Arkansas. Working with the local school district to locate which children are in need, and then we pack backpacks with breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks for both Saturday and Sunday. We are proud to be feeding over 850 children each weekend and with the thousands of hours our volunteers have donated delivering and packing meals for these children.
Arkansas has a higher than average need for these types of services. In 2011 the childhood poverty rate in Arkansas was 25.3%. Compare that to the national average of 18.6% and you can see that this is a great way to help people in our own state. When we started we only were able to serve children who qualified as homeless. But now we have been able to help more children, including those that live with food insecurity.
Feed Arkansas Kids:
- Started in 2007 serving 60 children.
- Now serving over 1,000 children in 37 schools.
- For every $6 a child can get 7 meals for the upcoming weekend.
- Volunteers donate over 1500 hours every year to deliver and pack food for children.
- We’re looking to help 2,000 children in the upcoming year.
Giving Back to the Community One Child at a Time
Mark Evans is the head chair for Feed Arkansas Kids and is proud of the growth that this project has seen. In 2007, we started feeding just 60 children. Now it has grown to over 850 children in 37 schools. Our goal for the next year is to help 2,000 children in need. It has been great to directly affect the lives of children here in the Central Arkansas area. As a leader in the community it is important to be a part of projects that can improve people’s lives, especially those who cannot do it for themselves. Food insecurity is a real issue and it’s important to help these children as directly as possible.
To learn more about Feed Arkansas Kids, and learn how you too can make a difference, click here to visit the website.
