NEA Baptist Clinic outpatient physical therapy colleagues hosted a food drive to benefit the Food Bank of NEA, in conjunction with Hope Week, from Sept. 23- 27.
Non-perishable food items and monetary donations were collected at more than 30 locations within the NEA Baptist Clinic system. One hundred percent of the donations went directly to the Food Bank of NEA.
According to the Food Bank of NEA, Arkansas has one of the highest food insecurity rates in the nation. They also reported that although about 4 million pounds of food products were distributed through the Food Bank in 2012, they will need more than 6 million pounds to adequately affect the poverty population in Northeast Arkansas this year.
“We did some volunteer work with the Food Bank last year, and we were all shocked at just how big the need for their services are in our area,” says Brian Lewis, a physical therapy assistant. “We had no idea that there were so many people right here in our back yard who would go hungry without the Food Bank’s services.”
Hope Week, sponsored by NEA Baptist Charitable Foundation, is a unique community-wide, week-long series of events and activities designed to salute and highlight the spirit of Hope and its importance in the life of the Northeast Arkansas community. Hope Week is rooted in the belief that acts of goodwill are virtually always related to more beneficial life outcomes.
NEA Baptist Charitable Foundation is made up of five programs. These programs include HopeCircle, Center for Healthy Children, ShareHope, Wellness Works!, and the Medicine Assistance Program. Through the support of the community at fundraisers, as well as grants and private donations/memorial gifts, the NEA Baptist Charitable Foundation is able to provide these much-needed services to the community of Northeast Arkansas free of charge. For more information about NEA Baptist Charitable Foundation or Hope Week, visit www.neacfoundation.org.