Rogers police officers will be delivering food to community members in need throughout September thanks to a partnership with the Northwest Arkansas Food Bank.
The Food Bank delivered 100 boxes Thursday to the Police Department. This will be the first time the food bank has collaborated with police officers to bring food to people.
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For more information about the Northwest Arkansas Food Bank, visit: www.nwafoodbank.org/
For more information about the Rogers Police Department, visit: http://rogersar.gov…
Officers are the perfect agents for getting food to people who are struggling, said Kent Eikenberry, president and chief executive officer of the food bank.
"The police departments are up and down the streets every day, and they see things that other people aren't going to see," Eikenberry said.
The partnership accomplishes two goals, said Police Chief Hayes Minor.
"One, we get to assist the food bank in its mission to feed the community; two, it gives police officers the opportunity to have a positive impact on the people we interact with," he said.
Eikenberry found a food bank that partnered with police departments in delivering food to residents in need while touring food banks in other states, said Carrie Harlow, director of finance and development for the nonprofit group.
"It was a very successful program, so we decided to do a pilot with the Rogers Police Department," Harlow said.
Eikenberry said when he introduced the idea to Rogers Mayor Greg Hines and Minor, he learned officers already were making personal sacrifices to help struggling residents.
"They talked about officers taking money out of their own wallet to buy food for those in need," he said. "Hopefully this will help eliminate them having to do that."
Sgt. Jose Dominguez spoke of one such occasion when a fellow officer gave of himself.
"One officer put a person in a hotel room for the night because it was winter and the woman was homeless," Dominguez said.
Each box of food consists of 21 items, including peanut butter and jelly, dried beans, rice, spaghetti, spaghetti sauce, tuna, cereal and breakfast bars, Harlow said.
Dominguez said he looks forward to taking food to families in need.
"It's another way for us to give back to the community," he said. "There's a lot of people who need the help."
An officer will use his discretion in determining how much food to provide a family or individual, said Ben Cline, public relations specialist for Rogers.
"They could use a whole box if they deem it necessary, or it could be one item from a box," Cline said.
Future boxes of food will contain information on how food recipients can contact food bank locations, Eikenberry said.
"Our goal is to put a list of the food pantries in each community that we're serving and their hours of operation so the recipients can know where to go," he said.
The food bank purchases about 20 percent of the food it distributes, with the rest coming from retail donors and food drives, Eikenberry said.
He said he approached Rogers police because he is a Rogers resident and was familiar with city leaders. He hopes to continue the program with police departments in other cities across Northwest Arkansas.
"If it goes well, I'm sure we'll roll it out with other communities," he said.
Sgt. Craig Stout, public information officer for the Fayetteville Police Department, said his department would welcome a collaboration with the Food Bank.
"We could sit down and have a meeting with them and find some type of arrangement," Stout said. "All they have to do is coordinate something with us and we can work something out."
Keith Foster, public information officer for the Rogers Police Department, said his department has a history of bringing fruit baskets to elderly residents and delivering meals on wheels, and he is excited officers will be bringing food to those in need.
"This is the community we live in," Foster said. "We're not just about enforcing laws, we're here to help people also. There's a caring side to what we do."
NW News on 08/26/2016