Harvest Regional Food Bank Texarkana Receives $30,000 Grant

Harvest Regional Food Bank, Texarkana, received a grant from the Blue and You foundation, for $30,000 to support Harvest’s Mobile Pantry program. A check presentation will take place on Monday, January 14, 2019, 11AM, at Harvest Regional Food Bank, 3120 East 19^th Street.

According to a press release, several of the nine Arkansas counties served by Harvest Regional Food Bank lack enough pantries or agencies to distribute enough food to meet the hunger relief needs of the community. In 2011, Harvest established the Mobile Pantry program to provide food directly to those communities with the fewest hunger relief options. The food bank began quarterly distributions to Lafayette and Pike Counties and have increased mobile distributions to include Columbia, Howard and Sevier, and Hempstead Counties.

“It is Harvest Regional Food Bank's plan to continue expanding the program to hold either quarterly, or bi-monthly mobile pantries in seven of our nine counties to increase the percentage of need met through distribution,” said Camille Wrinkle, Executive Director at Harvest. “The funds received from the Blue & You Foundation will help us provide an additional 300,000 pounds of fresh and shelf stable food to approximately 14,000 food insecure individuals.”

“Our grants this year went to programs across the state that address such issues as nutrition and exercise, food insecurity, emergency medical services and medical professional education,” said Patrick O’Sullivan, executive director of the Blue & You Foundation.

Arkansas Blue Cross and Blue Shield established the Blue and You Foundation in 2001 as a charitable foundation to promote better health in Arkansas. This year, the Blue & You Foundation has awarded $2.7 million to 42 health improvement programs in Arkansas.