Part 1 of a two-part series on feeding the hungry in Arkansas.
This year has been one of uncertainty for those living on the margins.
Broad federal funding cuts have slashed the ability of many organizations to provide charitable services and resources, and the delay in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits has many Arkansans worrying about where they’ll find their next meal.
Parishes, schools and Catholic organizations across the state serve the vulnerable and marginalized through food pantries and soup kitchens.
An increase in need
For months, Margaret Douglas, executive director of Helping Hand of Greater Little Rock, and Gayle Priddy, former executive director, have told Arkansas Catholic how dire the situation is for some of our most vulnerable neighbors.
With USDA cuts, in September the organization could give out only five cans of food, compared to seven to nine in the past. On Nov. 3, Priddy said the SNAP benefit delays have stretched Helping Hand even thinner.
“Each day we are serving more families, and several have never been to our pantry before,” she said. “With the increased families that we are serving, our inventory is difficult to maintain at a level we have become used to. Shelves are empty where once they were filled to capacity.
“We need people to donate canned goods — corn, green beans, beans, fruits, tuna or chicken, rice, dry beans, flour, sugar, peanut butter, cereal. If they can contact neighbors, friends and family to donate or do a food drive where they work, at their church or an organization they belong to. They can also donate on our website if that is easier for them.”
Many parishes and schools are answering the call to serve their communities.
Food pantries
Several parishes and schools across Arkansas operate food pantries. St. Mary of the Springs Church in Hot Springs has opened its food pantry on Mondays for the past 11 years. The parish works together with Sacred Heart Church in Hot Springs Village and St. John the Baptist Church in Hot Springs to gather food.
Mary Kaye Olenak, who oversees the parish food pantry, said they have seen a huge spike in clients this year.
“Our numbers were pretty balanced for the first half of the year. For instance, we always see an uptick toward the end of any given year, because you have the holidays and more school closures,” she said. “So in Q4 of 2024, we served 683 families. Then, in the first half of the year, we went back to our normal rhythm and served 620 families. In Q2, we served 633 families. In Q3, we served 700 families. And now, at the end, as I track numbers for Q4, we will be well ahead of that.”
Last week, Olenak said she ran out of food.
“I opened early because I had so many people lined up, and it was cold that morning. Normally, our hours are 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., but we opened at 9:35 a.m. that morning after we said prayer. I had to shut down at around 11:15 a.m.,” she said. “I had people coming in and sitting on chairs to wait because I had to build 15 more bags — at that point, I had no more food. I told them that if they were willing to wait, we’d make them a bag. Typically, they leave … Nobody left.”
Olenak said on Nov. 3, the pantry served 74 people, more than expected.
“We’re on target to receive 900 families this quarter,” said Deacon Mike Cumnock, who helps oversee charitable outreach at the parish. “The third quarter numbers were before the shutdown.”
For that reason, the parish has been working closely with St. John School in Hot Springs to collect food, similar to the food collection done by schools such as Mount St. Mary during their “Robin Hood Days” in the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving, to donate to Helping Hand.
“All grades are running a food drive that started this week, and they’ll run it all the way through Nov. 21 in order to stock our pantry,” Olenak said.
St. Bernard of Clairvaux Church in Bella Vista recently expanded its twice-weekly food pantry after parishioners saw more food insecurity in neighboring communities.
“It’s been something we’ve been doing for years and years. I’ve been with the parish 11 years, and we’ve been doing it as long as I’ve been here,” said parish administrative assistant Christina Laughlin. “Within the last year, we increased our radius outside of Bella Vista, because we did see some needs that weren’t being addressed. … We try to cover some of the outliers that aren’t serviced by anyone else.”
St. Bernard’s food pantry serves residents of Bella Vista, Gravette, Decatur and Sulphur Springs, as well as Jane and Pineville, Mo.
The parish also participates in other charitable food insecurity activities.
“Our Women’s Club does a Thanksgiving food drive each November. Families in need are identified at our local schools, and a box is created for each family. Parishioners, groups or clubs each sign out a box and fill it with the listed food items, and return to the parish where the Women’s Club puts in a canned ham and then delivers the boxes to the schools to give to the families prior to Thanksgiving,” Laughlin said. “This year, they are working on filling 80 boxes.”
At St. Theresa Church and School in southwest Little Rock, principal Kristy Dunn said there’s a lot of misconception around who can access SNAP and other governmental benefits.
“A lot of people are saying that the undocumented population is using these benefits, and what we have noticed is that’s just not true,” she said. “Because they didn’t receive the benefit anyway. If they are undocumented, they cannot access SNAP. … We know that we serve families where some people are documented and some people are undocumented, but they are not accessing SNAP benefits. That is not a benefit that is commonly shared or accessed in the St. Theresa Catholic School community, even though we participate in the National School Breakfast Program, the National School Lunch Program, and we check and see who is eligible for those programs. We have fewer than 10 applications out of the whole student body that receive SNAP benefits, and I have 270 students.
“I know I have families who are eligible, and our families are hardworking and humble people who try not to access those benefits if they can help it,” she said.
The school began operating a small food pantry for students and their families in 2019-2020. After receiving a $ 20,000 grant from Catholic Charities USA in November 2024, St. Theresa was able to expand its food pantry area and capability by adding two commercial refrigerators and a commercial freezer.
The pantry began when students started arriving at school in the mornings, complaining of stomachaches.
“We realized they weren’t sick. They were hungry,” Dunn said.
Around 70 percent of the student body is on free and reduced lunches, or qualify for either a free meal or a reduced lunch price.
“Then we are sending home 25 backpacks every weekend, which is about 10 percent of my student body,” Dunn said.
To minimize stigma around food insecurity, the school discreetly packs backpacks of food for students to help them get through the weekend.
“You’re supposed to meet your community where they’re at, and so for St. Theresa Catholic Church and School, that means we’re going to use Spanish language translation. That means we offer breakfast and lunch. That means having a food pantry,” Dunn said.
Free meals
Some parishes provide free meals and other resources to those in need.
St. Peter the Fisherman Church in Mountain Home offers a soup kitchen to anyone needing “a good, free and fellowship” on Thursdays from 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m.
“We began St. Peter’s Kitchen before COVID-19 and served at least 60 people then,” said parish secretary Mary Jo Rudnik. “Now we serve 40 to 50 people and families each week. It has really stayed quite steady. Our community already gives monetary donations as they can.”
The parish also has a chapter of the St. Vincent de Paul Society, an organization that serves the vulnerable and marginalized by ensuring they have access to food and housing.
“We have wonderful, dedicated volunteers — this is such a rewarding ministry.”
Since the early 1990s, parishioners of St. Edward Church in Texarkana have prepared sack lunches every weekday for those in need in the surrounding community. The effort grew over the years, and now, the St. Edward Outreach Center serves around 250 people a day — at least 52,000 lunches a year.
Deacon Leon Pesek, who oversees the ministry, has noticed over the past month that more people in the community need help.
“We’ve definitely had an increase, and there has been discussion among the clients and concerns about SNAP being discontinued, even though it had not been discontinued yet, but the anticipation of the discontinuation has been a matter of discussion,” he said. “We’ve also seen an increase in numbers, too. We’ve had more people calling us, asking us what other services we also have available.”
Pesek said many people have also called to ask whether there is food available for them to cook at home. He connects those callers to other organizations and agencies in the area that can help.
For many parishes, schools and organizations across the state, Pesek said the challenge is the same.
“You’re always trying to make sure you’re stretching your resources to the point where you’re still able to meet those needs,” he said. “We’ve seen an increase in the last six months, not only this month, where our numbers have gone up drastically. We used to average about 240 to 250 meals a day. Now, it’s right at 300 meals a day we’re serving. That’s a significant increase in trying to stretch your donation dollars.”
But Pesek is undeterred — he knows he is living out his faith.
“We’re supposed to reach out and lift up those who are most in need. That’s what Christ taught us,” he said. “That’s what we hear in the Gospel — that we’re supposed to care for those who are less fortunate. And the way you go out and carry the Lord’s message into the world is by taking care of those who are less fortunate.”
