Wednesday, June 16, 2021 – Arvest Bank launched its annual Million Meals initiative to fight hunger in the four-state region the bank serves two months ago. Today, the bank announced that with the help of customers and community members, it has exceeded the campaign goal by raising more than 1.68 million meals.
Launched in 2011, Arvest’s Million Meals campaigns have raised an 11-year total of 18,749,881 meals, which includes more than $3.3 million in funds given directly to the bank’s dozens of local food partners.
This year’s campaign total of 1,680,910 meals was made possible through donations from the bank, Arvest associates, customers and community members from April 5-May 29. The success of the campaign is especially meaningful as summer approaches because many children will be without the meals they ordinarily receive at school.
“It is humbling each year to see how our customers, community members and associates rally around this cause,” Roger Holroyd, Arvest Bank president in the Fort Smith and River Valley region said. “We could not fight hunger on this scale without all these groups and we thank them for their hard work, dedication and generosity. Helping our neighbors in need is part of Arvest’s commitment to our communities.”
In the Fort Smith market which includes branches in Fort Smith, Van Buren, Alma, Greenwood and Waldron in Arkansas and Sallisaw and Poteau in Oklahoma, Arvest partnered with Community Services Clearinghouse and United Way of Fort Smith for the campaign. These organizations received all local donations, and this year 198,630 total meals were provided in the
Fort Smith and surrounding areas. All money raised through this campaign directly benefitted 90-plus organizations feeding local communities in Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri and Oklahoma.
The bank’s decision to provide one million meals was based on the fact hunger is an issue in every community it serves. In 2019, the most recent year statistics are available, 10.5 percent of American households were food-insecure, meaning they had difficulty at some time during the year providing enough food for all their members due to a lack of resource.
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