Pair fighting hunger with Solutions

Daniel and Becky Barnes Campbell are co-chairmen of this year’s Serving Up Solutions, the fundraiser for the Arkansas Hunger Relief Alliance where a fourcourse dinner is served by legislators.
Daniel and Becky Barnes Campbell are co-chairmen of this year’s Serving Up Solutions, the fundraiser for the Arkansas Hunger Relief Alliance where a fourcourse dinner is served by legislators.

A four-course dinner prepared by some of central Arkansas' top chefs and served by legislators is part of the war against hunger in the Natural State.

Serving Up Solutions, the Arkansas Hunger Relief Alliance's annual fundraiser, takes place June 14 and is held in cooperation with the Legislature's Hunger Caucus, which turns 10 this year.

Leading the 2018 edition of Serving Up Solutions are co-chairmen and husband and wife Daniel and Becky Barnes Campbell.

"It's the alliance's biggest fundraiser," says Barnes Campbell at the offices of Campbell Ward, the bipartisan state and federal public affairs and public relations firm she formed with Lauren Waldrip Ward in Little Rock. "It's a really unique event. These wonderful chefs prepare the meal and then the legislators bring out the dinner and serve everyone."

Cooking the courses will be chefs Capi Peck of Trio's, Rosalia Monroe of Cafe Bossa Nova and Mary Beth Ringgold of Capers, Copper Grill and Cajun's Wharf. Loblolly Creamery will dish up dessert, and members of the bipartisan caucus will serve diners.

Over dinner, Barnes Campbell says, "we also get to talk about the issue at hand and how important it is."

That issue is hunger and the alliance's efforts to reduce hunger and provide access to nutritious food to Arkansans. Money raised from the event helps the alliance's programs and provides grants to member food banks and food pantries across Arkansas.

"One thing that is really impressive to me is that they write these mini grants for food banks and food pantries to help them buy equipment, upgrade their facilities -- any number of things," Barnes Campbell says.

Arkansas, at 17.2 percent, remains second highest in the nation of households whose members at times have lack of access to enough food for an active, healthy life, according to a report released earlier this month from Feeding America, a nationwide network of 200 food banks.

More than 515,000 Arkansans, including 165,000 children, struggle to get enough to eat, says the report, which used data from 2016. Arkansas is ranked third, behind New Mexico and Mississippi, in childhood hunger, with one in four Arkansas children at risk.

Barnes Campbell, 36, was working as then-Arkansas first lady Ginger Beebe's chief of staff (she was also the lone staff member), when she first became aware of the state's need for hunger relief.

"I got to attend meetings and sit in on conversations and really be a part of seeing what hunger looks like in Arkansas," she says. "The majority of kids in specific parts of our state go to school knowing that's going to be the only meal they are going to get consistently every day."

Barnes Campbell also worked as special events coordinator for Arkansas Foodbank, where she was further exposed to the issue of hunger.

"We were marketing the cause, helping people understand what the issues were," she says of her time there. "Hunger isn't really a sexy cause, so it's hard to get people on board with it or to admit that we have a problem in our state."

Daniel Campbell got involved with the alliance and Serving Up Solutions through Becky, although he has also seen the effects of hunger.

"I worked on and off with the Boys and Girls Club in southwest Little Rock. You'd see how many of those kids, when they'd go home for the weekend, were trying their best to get as many snacks as they could because there was nothing at home," the 37-year-old says.

He worked with the Boys and Girls Club before beginning his filmmaking career. His first feature film, Antiquities, starring Mary Steenburgen, Ashley Green and Andrew J. West, begins its run of film festivals in June, he says.

The Campbells are hoping that a younger demographic will be compelled to take up the cause to fight hunger in the Natural State.

"Living right here and being so close to to the Capitol, I feel like we have the opportunity to speak on this event and how important it is for us," Barnes Campbell says. "We're trying to pull in a new demographic and educate our friends and people our age, to say this is a huge need in Arkansas and a huge need in our community. Together, we can do some really big things here."

Serving Up Solutions, 6-8:30 p.m. June 14, Albert Pike Masonic Center, 712 Scott St., Little Rock. Tickets, $250. For ticket information, email mbgross@arhungeralliance.org.

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Daniel and Becky Barnes Campbell are hoping to attract a younger demographic to help in the fight against hunger in Arkansas.

High Profile on 05/27/2018

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