The Arkansas Foodbank and a team of students from the University of Arkansas Clinton School of Public Service are collaborating with the community in White Country to improve food access and services for its seniors.
Arkansas is the number one state in the country for senior food insecurity, including nearly 25% of the approximate 600,000 seniors in Arkansas are food insecure, meaning that they do not have access to sufficient quantity of nutritious food. Roughly 3,000 seniors in White County are food insecure.
Students Mary Henthorn of Little Rock, Ark, Miki Kunishige of Rapid City, S.D., Piper Meeks of Nederland, Texas, Salil Joshi of Shreveport, La., and Yvonne Quek of Singapore, are facilitating concerned White County residents and service providers in forming a coalition that increases coordination between services and addresses the needs of hungry seniors. This community-based project replicates successful efforts conducted by the Arkansas Foodbank in other counties in Arkansas. Their work will also involve creating a resource list which sets out available services relevant to seniors throughout White County.
“Our goal at the Arkansas Foodbank is to serve more seniors and to serve them better,” said Jayne Ann Kita, Food For Families Chief Program Officer. “There are thousands of seniors who cannot afford something as basic as a warm meal.”
This project is one of ten projects to be completed by 36 Clinton School students across the state of Arkansas. These students are in their first year of the school’s Master of Public Service degree program.
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