Oasis Food Pantry receives donation from Arvest Bank

“This year we set out to raise a million meals, like every year, but this year we raised a little over 1.9 million. Every dollar raised here stays here and benefited Oasis.”

— Lindsay Aycock, marketing specialist for Arvest Bank

BELLA VISTA — The Oasis Food Pantry at Village Bible Church received a donation of $3,013.61 on June 23 from the Arvest Bank Million Meals Program.

Paula Phillips, a volunteer with the food pantry, said the number of people coming to the pantry for food has doubled recently. She said Oasis went from assisting 20-something families to numbers in the 40s, and the number has been as high as 60 some weeks.

However, she said, “We’ve also had generous contributions, which is important, because we don’t want to cut back on what we give.”

She said she wanted to thank Allen’s grocery store and Harps of Bella Vista for their contributions. She said Harps has a program that allows shoppers to donate a bag of groceries to the food pantry, and Allen’s donates bread and eggs.

She said Oasis also receives generous donations of funds from churches and individuals in the community.

The individuals who receive food are referred to as neighbors. Neighbors receive items such as canned fruits and vegetables, spaghetti sauce or a tomato product, beans, soup if it is available, spaghetti, macaroni and cheese, juice boxes for families of five or more, homemade laundry soap made by volunteers at the church, peanut butter and jelly, frozen meat, a dozen eggs, a loaf of bread and fresh fruits and vegetables.

Phillips said the pantry also provides flour and sugar once a month.

Volunteer Beverly Owenby manages the produce area of the food pantry. She said she always manages to get potatoes and onions and tries to get neighbors one serving of fruit, like four bananas or oranges or apples. In the summer she provides twice that much because the children are out of school, she said. She chooses basic vegetables like cabbage, carrots and broccoli — not everyone likes asparagus, for example, she said. She purchases fruits and vegetables at a discount from a wholesaler and is sometimes able to get kick loads, which are portions of fruits or vegetables that have been “kicked back” because someone ordered too much, but the produce is in perfect condition, she said.

Pickup days are Wednesdays from 10 a. m.- noon. Neighbors are greeted in their cars, and then “car hops” bring the food out to them.

“We always ask if they want prayer, and they always do,” Phillips said.

Lindsay Aycock, marketing specialist for Arvest Bank, said, “This year we set out to raise a million meals, like every year, but this year we raised a little over 1.9 million. Every dollar raised here stays here and benefited Oasis.”

She said one dollar is equivalent to four meals, which is about the average in Arkansas and the four-state area.

“It’s really cool to be able to see our different partners’ setups, their pantries. It’s so much more than food they’re providing. It’s cool to be a part of something bigger than your day to day job,” she added.

Village Bible Church Senior Pastor Al Frank said, “This era we’re in right now with so much distress among those struggling to make ends meet — I can see it in their eyes that they’re struggling, but also incredibly thankful … that we have a bit of a safety net. To have Arvest bank donate to that … that’s a large donation and we appreciate that. We’re spending more than we have previously, and that donation will go a long way.”

Phillips estimated the donation would last the pantry about two months.