Nonprofit group, food bank to align services

FAYETTEVILLE — A nonprofit organization that focuses on helping people grow their own food and lead healthy lifestyles has merged with the Northwest Arkansas Food Bank.

Feed Communities, established in 2011 by Denise Garner, who is now a Democratic state representative, dissolved its 501(c)(3) corporation designation and became part of the food bank on Sunday. The board for Feed Communities decided this summer to consolidate operations with the food bank.

The mission for Feed Communities has changed a few times over the years, said Angie Albright, Feed Communities board chairwoman. Most recently, the organization has focused its efforts on educational opportunities, and building community gardens to feed neighborhoods, she said.

The goal has been to ensure all families, regardless of socioeconomic status, have access to nutritious food, Albright said. Feed Communities has worked with food pantries, put in gardens at churches and neighborhoods and held classes on diabetes prevention at its office on Locust Avenue, she said.

Garner said in a news release the food bank and Feed Communities considered combining efforts in 2011, but the timing wasn’t right.

“They continued to build their distribution operations, and Feed Communities developed multiple programs to fill a variety of community food system gaps,” she said. “We’ve come full-circle, the stars have aligned, and I couldn’t be happier about this collaboration.”

Feed Communities will become a program within the food bank, Albright said. The food bank will take over the office on Locust, where Feed Communities will continue to operate under its same name. The one staff member Feed Communities has will continue her role, but as an employee of the food bank. A handful of the Feed Communities board members will join the food bank board, she said.

The long-term visions of both organizations aligned, and rather than duplicate services, it made more sense to become one, Albright said.

“We really think more nonprofits should consider this kind of move,” she said. “We have so many in our region, and organizations should be working to reduce the duplication of services wherever we can.”

Absorbing Feed Communities will help the food bank expand its educational outreach, said Kent Eikenberry, president and CEO of the food bank. Feed Communities’ past work, such as with Hispanic and Marshallese residents, will help get the right kinds of foods to the people who are most in need, he said.

“They’re working to teach people how to grow their own food, which obviously helps those people who are food insecure,” Eikenberry said. “If they can grow a small garden, that’s going to help them.”