Harvest Texarkana Regional Food Bank will be distributing 1,000 food boxes to the public at the Four States Fairgrounds on Tuesday, September 29. The event is scheduled to be from 8:00 am to 12noon or until all supplies are gone.
Media Release:
Texarkana, USA, September 23, 2020 – Harvest Regional Food Bank will distribute 1,000 emergency food boxes to Texarkana-area residents on Tuesday, September 29th, beginning at 8:00am at Four States Fair Arena, 3700 E 50th St, Texarkana, AR. The event will last until 12:00pm or until all boxes have been distributed.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic began in March, Harvest has seen a 108% increase in food distribution. As schools closed, jobs were lost and families faced food insecurity, many for the first time, Harvest got to work addressing the need for hunger relief.
“Prior to the COVID crisis, we used mobile pantries to serve the needs of our rural counties,” says Camille Coker Wrinkle, CEO/Executive Director. “But as we saw an increase in food insecurity right here in Texarkana, we realized the best way to address hunger was to use our mobile pantry program, but on a much larger scale.”
Family food boxes distributed in Harvest’s mobile pantry program include a box of fresh vegetables, a box of shelf-stable pantry items and a box of frozen meats. “We want families to be able to prepare nutritious meals with the food they receive, and this ‘bundle’ includes up to a month’s worth of much needed healthy food,” says Wrinkle.
To ensure safe social distancing, recipients are to remain in their vehicle and follow direction of staff and volunteers upon entrance to the grounds. Enter from the 50th St Entrance at Hwy 245/Four States Fair Pkwy in front of Bobby Ferguson Park (by the gazebo). Distribution is limited to one box per household and two households per vehicle.
Last year, Harvest distributed 3.2M meals and served over 60,000 individuals in Southwest Arkansas and Northeast Texas. Both states consistently rank in the top 10 for the highest incidents of hunger. Nearly 20% of our local residents miss meals due to food insecurity, including 1 in 4 children. Harvest works to eliminate hunger through its Food Banking, Food Rescue, School Backpack and Mobile Pantry programs.
