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For Arkansas Hunger Relief Alliance. For immediate use.
For more information contact Nancy Conley, Communications Director, r call 501.399.9999.
ARKANSAS TOPS NATIONAL RANKING FOR SENIOR HUNGER
LITTLE ROCK, AR(April 23, 2015)−According to a report released today by the National Foundation to End Senior Hunger, Arkansas ranks #1 in senior hunger for the third consecutive year. With 26.10 percent of Arkansas seniors considered food insecure, this represents an alarming trend. Arkansas has seen an almost seven percent increase in senior hunger since 2010. In 2013 (the year the study is based on), an estimated 118,925* Arkansas seniors age 65 and over struggled with hunger.
“This is a shameful and unnecessary state of affairs in Arkansas,” said Kathy Webb, Arkansas Hunger Relief Alliance executive director. “Seniors deserve better than we’re giving them. Our federal and state leaders must protect and strengthen the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program if we are to alleviate hunger in one of our most vulnerable populations. The Alliance will continue working with our Senior Hunger stakeholders to expand existing programs and develop innovative ways to reduce senior hunger in Arkansas.”
The Alliance hosted the first Senior Hunger Summit in October 2014 to raise awareness of the problem and identify stakeholders who serve Arkansas’s elderly population. Enid Borden, NFESH President and CEO, was among those who spoke at the Summit. Department of Agriculture Undersecretary Kevin Concannon also attended the Summit and praised participants for taking the first step in finding remedies to the issue of hunger in the senior population.
Nationally, 9.6 million seniors faced hunger and that was especially true for seniors living in southern and southwestern states. The threat is not limited to seniors living below the poverty line. Findings showed that the majority of seniors who reported struggling to afford enough food, had incomes above the poverty level. The study further reports that, “while African-Americans are at greater risk than whites [of being food insecure], almost 3 in 4 seniors facing the threat of hunger are white.” The study also shows that most vulnerable are those seniors between 60 and 64 years of age.
The complete study can be found on the Arkansas Hunger Relief Alliance website at
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About The Arkansas Hunger Relief Alliance
Arkansas Hunger Relief Alliance, lead partner in Arkansas for the No Kid Hungry campaign, is a non-profit collaborative network of more than 480 hunger relief organizations across Arkansas. Our founding members includethe Arkansas Foodbank in Little Rock, the Food Bank of Northeast Arkansas in Jonesboro, Harvest Texarkana Regional Food Bank in Texarkana, Food Bank of North Central Arkansas in Norfork, Northwest Arkansas Food Bank in Bethel Heights and River Valley Regional Food Bank in Fort Smith. The Alliance is dedicated to reducing hunger through direct relief, education and advocacy. We invite you to visit for details on hunger relief programs, donor and volunteer opportunities.
About NFESH
The National Foundation to End Senior Hunger (NFESH) is committed to bringing together the best minds in all sectors; commissioning research; and exploring social entrepreneurial innovations to seek long-term, sustainable solutions to end senior hunger. We must use a data-driven approach and work with many community, corporate, and national partners to design a model of inclusive elderly well-being that an American society can embrace.