AT&T Arkansas teams up with police to distribute food

AT&T Arkansas president Ronnie Dedman, Arkansas Foodbank CEO Rhonda Sanders and Pulaski County Sheriff Eric Higgins show shopping bags filled with food that police officers can distribute to families in emergency situations.
(Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/Cary Jenkins)
AT&T Arkansas president Ronnie Dedman, Arkansas Foodbank CEO Rhonda Sanders and Pulaski County Sheriff Eric Higgins show shopping bags filled with food that police officers can distribute to families in emergency situations. (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/Cary Jenkins)

Police officers patrolling neighborhoods see it every day. People -- young and old -- who are hungry and have little to no access to food. And the covid-19 pandemic has complicated the problem.

In June 2019, AT&T partnered with the Arkansas Hunger Relief Alliance and six food banks in the state to create Believe Arkansas. A major aspect is the Food Patrol Pack program, which arms police officers with reusable shopping bags filled with nonperishable foods to distribute to families in emergency situations. In the initial phase, AT&T provided $100,000 to supply more than 1,000 patrol packs.

This year, AT&T sweetened the pot, pledging to provide $350,000 to supply 10,000 patrol packs and other food-insecurity programs.

"We can kind of put a face on hunger and think about people that we know, people in the community and children who go to school hungry every day," says Ronnie Dedman, president of AT&T Arkansas. "And then you think about the veterans around the state and you think about senior citizens who have to think about whether they are going to eat or buy medicine."

Since the program began last summer, about 1,800 patrol packs have been distributed to police officers in Little Rock, McGehee, Hope, Fort Smith, Helena-West Helena, Hot Springs and Russellville and sheriff's departments in Pulaski, Sebastian, Craighead, Baxter, St. Francis, Jefferson, Phillips, Union and Faulkner counties.

Believe Arkansas partners with nonprofit organizations like Arkansas Foodbank in Little Rock to get the food into the hands of hungry Arkansans.

"We have also partnered with and supported places like Watershed, 100 Black Men and six other food banks around the state and other organizations that have similar interests," Dedman says. "We are pretty excited about that. We truly think that we are making a difference."

Rhonda Sanders, chief executive officer of Arkansas Foodbank, says the covid-19 crisis has turned the tables on nonprofit organizations who work to get food into the hands of the hungry.

"Focusing on children is extremely important, especially right now with our covid response and everything people are dealing with," Sanders says. "We have children at home, who have been at home during the school year, who are always at home during the summer.

"Many of those children are used to getting food at school and the families are having to dig a little deeper to provide food," she says. "Having the patrol packs helps to feed the children, and it helps to feed their families. It's a wonderful partnership."

Arkansas Foodbank and other hunger-relief organizations face a new problem during the pandemic -- people who are out of work and have never before had to rely on assistance.

"When covid really started, we became aware that we had a whole new group of people who had no clue how to use a charitable system," she says. "They didn't know where agencies were, they didn't know what to expect. They didn't know when they were open."

In response, the food bank set up a text number -- (844) 381-3663 -- where people can find the closest food bank in their area.

"We did several things like that to help them learn the system and where to go," Sanders says. "We also did all of the direct distributions, and what we found was a huge number of people who had never used the system before."

Sanders says her organization is distributing 39% more food than it did at the same time last year.

"To put it in perspective, we did 30 million pounds of food last year in 320 agencies and 80 schools," she says. "If it continues the way it is right now, we will do 39 million pounds this year. That's a pretty substantial increase. We also are seeing a 40% increase in new clients."

To make up the difference, Sanders says, the agency has been "very fortunate that the community has been extremely supportive of us. We are using every dime that is given to us to acquire more food, pay for transportation costs and things of that nature. It is by the generosity of the community."

For the Believe Arkansas program, Arkansas Foodbank and other agencies receive the food, sort it and place it in the patrol packs. Arkansas Foodbank's text number is included in the packs as well as information on how to apply for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.

The contents of the packs vary based on availability. The packs are designed to feed a family of four for two to three days and typically contain canned fruits and vegetables, at least one breakfast item such as cereal or oatmeal, rice, a jar of peanut butter and easy meals such as instant potatoes, soup, canned food or boxed skillet dinners, says Sarah Riffle, a spokeswoman at the food bank.

When Eric Higgins was running for Pulaski County sheriff in 2019, a big part of his campaign focused on deputies' building stronger relationships in the community. Now sheriff, Higgins says the Patrol Pack program is perfectly aligned with his mission.

"With the resources we have, we can only do so much," Higgins says. "We never want to be viewed as just an enforcement agency. There are times when we will make arrests, we will write tickets, but the majority of the time we are out there we have opportunities to interact with the community in a positive way.

"It's so important that we do all we can to form those strong relationships and through those relationships we have an impact on the community and we will have an impact on crime in the community."

While Higgins acknowledges the number of available patrol packs is limited, he does encourage his deputies to make them available in emergency situations.

"With covid-19, more people have been isolating themselves. Our deputies and lieutenants try and communicate to community leaders and organizations that if they know of people or families who are reluctant to get out, let us know and we will be more than willing to bring food," he says.

As president of AT&T Arkansas, Ronnie Dedman is working with Arkansas Foodbank CEO Rhonda Sanders and Pulaski County Sheriff Eric Higgins to provide food to hungry Arkansans who need emergency help through a program launched by the telephone giant.
(Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/Cary Jenkins)
As president of AT&T Arkansas, Ronnie Dedman is working with Arkansas Foodbank CEO Rhonda Sanders and Pulaski County Sheriff Eric Higgins to provide food to hungry Arkansans who need emergency help through a program launched by the telephone giant. (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/Cary Jenkins)

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