Two years ago, as the economic downturn hit Arkansas, an anonymous ARCF donor stepped up with a hunger relief challenge: for each ARCF local office that could raise $10,000 to establish a Stop Hunger Endowment for its service area, the donor would add an additional dollar for every $3 raised. Since then, the 12 new Stop Hunger Endowments established through that challenge have grown to a total of more than $320,000, a six-fold increase on the donor’s initial investment. 

Across the state, these new endowments support projects on the frontlines of the fight against hunger and poverty, such as the backpack program at Pyron Elementary School in Clarksville. Using food they receive from Arkansas Rice Depot, school nurses stuff backpacks with nonperishable kid-friendly snacks for children who might not otherwise have anything to eat at home. Johnson County Community Foundation recently provided a grant from its Stop Hunger Endowment to help supplement the food items the school receives from Arkansas Rice Depot to make the backpacks stretch a little further.