Serving Up Solutions 2010Wow, what a wonderful evening June 14th was! Nearly 125 policy makers and friends joined together for an evening of good food and good fellowship to help raise money for hunger relief organizations across the state. Chef Kathy Webb of Lilly's Dim Sum, Then Some, Chefs Capi Peck and Brent Peterson of Trio's, Chef Tim Morton of 1620 Restaurant and The Culinary Staff of the Governor's Mansion provided a culinary feast for those who attended. First Lady Ginger Beebe and 18 members of the Arkansas Legislative Hunger Caucus served the meal. Senator Larry Teague organized a silent auction and Representative Bruce Maloch called a live auction for 2 special items. All in all the evening was a lot of fun and raised nearly $17,000 that will help hunger relief organizations in the state as they serve our families in need. We want to give a special "shout out" to those who helped us sponsor this event. Silver Sponsor - Walmart Table Sponsors The Arkansas Legislative Hunger Caucus Members who served the meal: Another special thank you goes to the organizations who donated products for the silent and live auction. These include: Daisy Outdoor Products, Husqvarna Outdoor Products, Verizon Wireless, AT&T, Magnolia Blossom Festival, Sheridan True Value, Secretary of State, Bottomland Naturals, Reynolds Performance Center. The silent and live auction made nearly $2,500! It takes so many individuals and organizations to make an event like this happen. We appreciate everyone's time, money and products. Thanks again for all you do to fight hunger in Arkansas. |
Spirit of Giving 2009The fifth annual "Spirit of Giving", sponsored by KATV - Channel 7, US Bank, Stallion Transportation Group, KHBS-KHOG 40/29 TV and the Arkansas Activities Association, was held December 1 - December 18 and ended with record breaking results! With 131 collection sites throughout Arkansas, we raised over 59,000 pounds of food to support statewide efforts to end hunger in Arkansas! All food collected stayed in the community in which it was donated as drop off points were linked with hunger relief organizations upon registration. The 2009 "Spirit of Community" Awards went to the US Bank on Rodney Parham in Little Rock, the Department of Workforce Services in Little Rock, and the Lincoln County Girl Scout Brownie Troop 1142 for collecting the most food for their category. Stallion Transportation Group in Beebe provided monetary incentives for the high school football championships and the Arkansas school competitions. A check for $1500 was presented to the Lonoke High School Athletic Dept. and Northridge Middle School in Van Buren for winning their categories. Thank you to everyone who helped make Spirit of Giving 2009 such a huge success! |
Hunger Action Breakfast 2009On September 2, 2009 The Arkansas Hunger Relief Alliance held the annual Hunger Action Breakfast at the Governor's Mansion. This year 200 people were in attendance. The Alliance initiated a new award named the "Acting Out Against Hunger Award." This new annual award is designed to recognize individuals and organizations that have made a commitent to reduce hunger in Arkansas. The recipients came from across the state and from a variety of stations in life. Several nominations were received and it was difficult to narrow it down to these few. Arkansas has been blessed to have many recognize the need that exists in our state. The Hunger Action Breakfast gave the Alliance the opportunity to recognize the following people or organizations for their efforts: 2009 Award Recipients
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Serving Up SolutionsLet's Talk Politics Over Dinner and Benefit the Hungry of ArkansasLast year the Arkansas Legislative Hunger Caucus initiated a new dinner to benefit the Arkansas Hunger Relief Alliance Network at Trio's in Little Rock. The dinner featured food prepared by local celebrity chefs. The idea of the dinner came from co-owner of Lilly's DimSum, ThenSome, Nancy Tesmer, as a way to raise funds for solutions to hunger in Arkansas. This has now become an annual event for policy makers and policy shapers. The 2nd Annual Serving Up Solutions Dinner was held on May 12, 2009 at 7:00 pm, at the Governor's Mansion in Little Rock and was attended by 100 plus people. The celebrity chefs that prepared food this year were: Chef Kathy Webb of Lilly's DimSum, ThenSome First Lady Ginger Beebe and members of the Arkansas Legislative Hunger Caucus served the meal which included lots of opportunity for entertaining!! Speaker of the House Robbie Wills, Rep. Bruce Maloch and Rep. Rick Green were recognized for their commitment to reduce hunger during their tenure in the legislature. Nancy Tesmer was recognized for founding the event by the naming of the Nancy Tesmer Mini-Grant Fund. The event raised approximately $16,700 that will go to fund the Nancy Tesmer Mini-grants at local hunger relief organizations through out the state. State legislators will be given the opportunity to nominate a local hunger relief organization in their district to receive one of the mini-grants to build capacity in their area. The Nancy Tesmer Mini-grants will be awarded by the fall of 2009. |
Kids give back to community
Lee Isaac, Kary, Bella, Andrew and Nick are pictured after presenting over $370 to the Arkansas Hunger Relief Alliance. They raised the money by having a booth at Harvest Fest and holding a garage sale. The children wanted to help give back to their community by helping the hungry. The Alliance will utilize these dollars in support of our gleaning project this year. We applaud these children for their generosity and hard work. They will be top on our list of volunteers for years to come. Thanks to all of you from the Alliance and its members!! |
Spirit of Giving 2008 Huge Success"Spirit of Giving 2008" sponsored by KATV - Channel 7, US Bank, 103.7 the Buzz, and Stallion Transportation Group was held December 1 - December 19 and collected over 46,000 pounds of food to support statewide efforts to end hunger in Arkansas! This was a 142% increase over 2007. All food collected stayed in the community in which it was donated as drop off points were linked with hunger relief organizations upon registration. The 2008 "Spirit of Community" Awards went to the US Bank in Greers Ferry, North Ridge Middle School in Van Buren and the Department of Finance & Administration - Ragland Building for collecting the most food for their category. The recipients will display their award until next December when competition begins again. The competition between high school football teams participating in the state championship games was a new twist for this year's campaign. It was highly successful with over 8,000 of food being collected at the entrance to War Memorial Stadium. Des Arc High School won the competition by bringing 3,200 pounds of food to their game on December 13th. The Des Arc Athletic Department was presented a check for $1500 by Butch Rice of Stallion Transportation Group for their efforts. Thanks to each of you for making Spirit of Giving 2008 a huge success! |
Hunger Action Month Breakfast - September 2008
It may have been a windy and wet day with the remnants of Gustav hanging around, but inside the Governor's Mansion there was fire, passion and commitment to help those in our state who are hungry. The Hunger Action Breakfast 2008 was a major success thanks to our hosts, the Governor and Mrs. Beebe, the 150 individuals who were able to brave the elements to attend and to the gracious donors who helped sponsor the event. |
Spirit of Giving 2007
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Food Stamp Challenge
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