Food Drive for World Food Day Kicks Off Saturday on University of Arkansas Campus

FAYETTEVILLE – The University of Arkansas is holding its second annual food drive in recognition of World Food Day. The drive kicks off at the Arkansas-Georgia game Saturday, Sept. 19, and will continue through Oct. 16, World Food Day.

World Food Day is a worldwide event designed to increase awareness and understanding and to inform a year-around action to alleviate hunger. The University of Arkansas has been named as an official collection site for this year’s event. The collection of items at the Georgia game is being held in conjunction with the third annual Southeastern Conference “Together We CAN Food Drive.”

People are encouraged to donate food items such as dry beans, canned goods, peanut butter and other nonperishable foods at one of the drop-off locations listed below on the University of Arkansas campus and other locations in Fayetteville and Rogers. Drop-off locations include the Reynolds Razorback Stadium on game day and all Fayetteville Fire Stations. All food collected will be donated to the Northwest Arkansas Food Bank.

Honorary spokespersons for this year’s food drive are University of Arkansas alumna and volunteer Jane Gearhart and softball coach Mike Larabee. Both are being featured on public service announcements being aired on campus and on local television stations.

Tyson Foods Inc., a chief sponsor for the food drive, will match the food-drive donations on a 10-to-1 basis up to 60,000 pounds of food. The total amount of food collected will be announced prior to a teleconference to be held at 10:30 a.m. Oct. 16 at the Global Campus in Center for Continuing Education on the Fayetteville Square. Following the announcement, there will be a telecast of a World Food Day symposium, broadcast live from Washington, D.C.

Drop off locations:

The sponsors for this year’s food drive are: University of Arkansas, Tyson Foods, Bentonville/Bella Vista Chamber of Commerce, University of Arkansas Global Campus, Northwest Arkansas Food Bank, Arkansas World Trade Center, city of Fayetteville, Fayetteville Chamber of Commerce, Rogers-Lowell Area Chamber of Commerce, University of Arkansas Department of Intercollegiate Athletics, University of Arkansas Bookstores, Marvin’s IGA, the Springdale Chamber of Commerce, the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, the University of Arkansas Applied Sustainability Center and the University of Arkansas Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences.

About the Northwest Arkansas Food Bank:

The Northwest Arkansas Food Bank, formerly the Ozark Food Bank, works to feed hungry people in the communities of northwest Arkansas through partnerships with other nonprofit hunger relief organizations. The food bank distributes millions of pounds of food per year and, in recent years, has expanded to include all of Benton, Carroll, Madison and Washington counties. The 2000 Census indicated that Benton and Washington counties are two of the top three counties in Arkansas with the highest percentage of people living below poverty levels. The Northwest Arkansas Food Bank is an affiliate of America’s Second Harvest and more than 150 agencies throughout northwest Arkansas.

About the World Food Day teleconference:

The 2009 World Food Day Teleconference will consider the impact of the financial crisis on those living in poverty, the responsibilities of the rest of the world and the solutions that are emerging.  Three experts from different backgrounds working on these issues will exchange views on the 26^th annual teleconference.  Max Finberg, newly appointed Director of the USDA Center for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships; Rep. Jim McGovern, serving his seventh term as representative from Massachusetts; and Joy Phumaphi, of Botswana, vice president and Head of the Human Development Network at the World Bank will be the guests. In addition to the panelists there will be a live uplink with the Prize Laureate from the World Food Prize ceremonies in Iowa.

The program will be broadcast live from Washington, D.C., from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m. Friday, Oct. 16. In addition to the satellite broadcast on C-Band, the DISH Network will carry the program.