FORT SMITH (KFSM) — The River Valley Regional Food Bank estimates 800 families took part in the Thanksgiving Dinner giveaway at Martin Luther King Jr., Park on Saturday morning (Nov. 19).
“It was the largest turnout we’ve ever had,” said River Valley Regional Food Bank Marketing Director Ken Kupchick.
There were 2,040 total donations and Butterball donated an additional 500 turkeys, according to the food bank’s Facebook page.
The agency reports that in 2015, people spent on average $50.11 on a Thanksgiving meal. Twenty-eight years ago the average cost was $24.50.
The non-profit’s goal is to try and eliminate hunger in Western Central Arkansas, those counties are Sebastian, Crawford, Franklin, Johnson, Polk, Logan and Yell.
More than 3.1 million meals are provided every year by the food bank.
Nationally in 2015, the United States Department of Agriculture reported that an estimated 12.7 percent of American households lacked access to enough food for an active, healthy life for all household members. That is down from 14 percent in 2014.
