Tacos 4 Life has a mission to help end world hunger.
For every taco, salad, rice bowl, quesadilla and plate of nachos it sells at its 21 restaurants in seven states in the Southeast and Midwest, the Conway-based fast-casual restaurant chain donates 24 cents -- the cost of one meal -- to the international nonprofit Feed My Starving Children.
In 2009, chain co-founders and married couple Austin and Ashton Samuelson learned that thousands of children die worldwide each day from hunger-related causes.
From the day -- June 9, 2014 -- that they opened their first restaurant in Conway, Tacos 4 Life started donating 22 cents per meal purchase. In the interim the amount of the donation went up two cents.
As of the end of last week, according to the chain's website, tacos4life.com, Tacos 4 Life customers have made it possible to donate "24,449,844 meals."
"We're about to hit 25 million meals next month," Austin Samuelson says. "The more tacos we sell, the more meals we can donate."
Hunger, Samuelson stresses, "is the world's greatest solvable problem. We know the world produces enough food; it's important to see to it that it gets to where it's needed. That's our heart, and that of Feed My Starving Children."
The chain's website explains that "[Feed My Starving Children] has developed a scientifically formulated MannaPack Rice Meal that provides children with the nutrients they need to grow strong and healthy. MannaPacks are made up of rice, vitamins, soy and veggies and are sent to over 70 countries, where they are distributed through schools, orphanages and CarePoints." (Visit fmsc.org.)
And food is just the beginning.
"We believe that food is the foundation that allows children to also receive medical care, education and skills training," the restaurant website continues. "We have seen firsthand the life-changing impact that each meal provides and the hope it brings to the children who receive it. Together we can change the world!"
The donation process is simple enough to explain to a kid, Samuelson says, referencing his own children -- Jet, 8; Finn, 6; and Ford, 3 (a fourth, Cruz, is still a baby and perhaps doesn't yet appreciate what it takes to help other children stave off hunger).
"We don't have to talk about a percentage" of sales the way many similar donation programs work, he says; "they just know we're going to make that donation."
Feed My Starving Children sends food all over the world, concentrating on places that need it most -- right now, Samuelson says, they're working on supplying 4.5 million meals to Ukraine and several nearby countries, and also hard at work in the Horn of Africa, which is experiencing a historic drought and consequent risk of widespread famine. The nonprofit also reacts to what Samuelson calls spot "disasters and bad situations," including hurricanes and conflict zones.
Samuelson says this particular partnership grew out of the realization that hunger is a universal problem -- "in Arkansas, around the country, around the world."
Tacos 4 Life is growing by literal leaps and bounds. Samuelson says he's looking to add another five or six restaurants to the chain by the end of this year, "and there are another 10-15 behind that in the development queue."
The 11 restaurants in Arkansas (two in Conway, two in Little Rock, one each in North Little Rock, Benton, Fayetteville, Fort Smith, Jonesboro, Rogers and Springdale) are corporate-owned. Restaurants in Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, North Carolina, Tennessee and Texas mostly operate under franchises, but Samuelson says those franchisees are "extremely motivated" to carry on the donation program. "We're blessed with a great team," he adds.
Tacos 4 Life also provides volunteer opportunities for churches and community groups through its MobilePack sessions, in which dozens -- sometimes hundreds -- of volunteers pack up meals to be forwarded to Feed My Starving Children. Tacos 4 Life provides the food; the volunteers provide the labor. Churches in Conway and Little Rock have MobilePack events scheduled in coming weeks; find details at the website, tacos4life.com.
"It costs $25,000 to pay for the food," Samuelson says, "but we're generating that much every week."
Phiwo (left) and Sahki, recipients of meals through Tacos 4 Life donations to Feed My Starving Children, pose with restaurant chain co-founder, Austin Samuelson during a 2015 vision trip to what was then Swaziland (since renamed Eswatini) in southern Africa. (Special to the Democrat-Gazette/Ashton Samuleson)
The Samuelson Family — Ashton and Austin Samuelson with their four children, (from left) Jet, 8; baby Cruz; Ford, 3; and Finn, 6 — helped promote the donation message at the April 2021 opening of Tacos 4 Life’s store at 13924 Cantrell Road. (Tacos 4 Life/Cindy George)