Benefit boosts food bank

The Jewels of Giving Gala to benefit the Northwest Arkansas Food Bank will be Nov. 15 at the John Q. Hammons Center in Rogers. Claire Babineaux-Fontenot, chief executive officer of Feeding America, will be the evening’s featured speaker.

The event will feature dinner, dancing, live and silent auctions, and guests will have the opportunity “help build the food boxes that are distributed to families at our School Pantry program,” said Linda Phillips, food bank development manager. There will be a special appeal to help the nonprofit organization expand the school program.

Honorary chairmen for the fundraiser are Sarah Alderson, Walmart U.S. district merchandising manager, Chilled Packaged Goods, and Mark Huffman, Walmart director of sales, Unilever – Walmart U.S. Food & Refreshments.

The group works with some

160 partner agencies ranging from food pantries to soup kitchens, shelters and many more in Benton, Carroll, Washington and Madison counties to help more than 70,000 Northwest Arkansans who are food insecure.

The food bank’s mobile pantry makes monthly stops in 12 locations — Bentonville, Berryville, Elkins, Fayetteville, Gravette, Huntsville, Lincoln, Lowell, Pea Ridge, Prairie Grove, Siloam Springs and Springdale. A monthly school pantry is held from 3:15 to 5 p.m.

at Monitor Elementary School in Springdale.

Aside from helping supply charitable organizations with food and other donations, the Northwest

Arkansas Food Bank operates programs such as the Senior Mobile Pantry and SNAP Outreach.

FILE PHOTO/J.T. WAMPLER Dan Phillips unloads a trailer of food in April at Grace United Methodist Church in Rogers. The church is one of several in Northwest Arkansas that gets food from the Northwest Arkansas Food Bank. The Jewels of Giving Gala on Nov. 15 at the John Q. Hammons Center in Rogers will benefit the food bank.