CAVE SPRINGS, Ark. — A local non-profit called Pack Shack is on a mission to end food insecurity, as over 16% of Arkansans worry about where their next meal will come from, according to Grant Clemens with Pack Shack.
“Our mission is to supply provisions and opportunities for local neighbors in need across the United States and here in Northwest Arkansas,” said Pack Shack's Senior Operations Manager Lawson Pitts.
Pitts said they work towards their mission through feed-the-funnel "parties" where they pack thousands of healthy and delicious meals for local neighbors in need, "and have a really good time doing it."
5NEWS had the chance to see what Pack Shack is all about when Kit Brown and his team from Ghirardelli invited them to join a feed-the-funnel.
During the party, each team is lined up at a table, with every person having a different job. Working in tandem, every member of the team performs a critical role that keeps the pace up.
In just under an hour over 4000 meals were packed by the Ghirardelli team and the 5NEWS team.
"It's just exciting. It's a lot of fun. This isn't your normal community service event that you're involved in. The lights are going, the strobe lights, the gongs, and the music's really loud,” said Brown.
A fun and simple concept started by Grant Clemens as a way to help Arkansans has grown to impact families across the country, with over 49 million meals packed since 2014.
Clemens remembers a particularly impactful moment when he heard one packer's story; “A student at one of the parties in Arkansas told us that he knew about the pack shack because his dad used to pick them up for him ... They had been to the food bank and had received our meals."
"That is when you really get emotional about these types of things, is when you sit there and you hear a story like that. That is really what brings it home, said Clemens. "That student said, 'I can now give back. I can make what I've received.'”
If you want to help give back you can donate or sign up to volunteer by going to the Pack Shack's website here.
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