Entergy Arkansas Bright Futures: Focusing Our Philanthropic Work on Food Insecurity

During the month of June, Entergy Arkansas is focusing our philanthropic efforts on food insecurity. One in five Arkansans faces hunger – and that number becomes one in four for children. Both statistics make the state the highest for food insecurity in the country.

Summer Cereal Drive

When schools close for the summer, children especially struggle to find food to replace breakfast and lunch they were receiving at school every day. Over 60% of children in Arkansas rely on free and reduced lunches, meaning when summer comes, they are struggling to fill the gaps that those meals provided.

Meeting the basic needs of our most vulnerable customers, such as providing hot meals, is foundational to Entergy’s corporate social responsibility objectives. Addressing food insecurity is a vital step in our strategy to develop and support poverty solutions.

Entergy Arkansas is there to help with the summer cereal drive and other programs to help children and their families get the nourishment they need. In fact, we’re the defending champions for the Arkansas Foodbank and KTHV Channel 11 Summer Cereal Drive.

Last year, we were the largest donor at just over $30,000 and some change. Every $1 donated can purchase one box of cereal, which provides five meals. And while the cereal and donations are collected in the summer, they are used to provide meals throughout the year to families in need.

We’ve pledged to defend our position and bring in even more donations this year. You’ll see us at donations sites across our service territory, including Little Rock, Pine Bluff, Cabot, Hot Springs and Russellville.

Year-round Giving

The Arkansas Foodbank serves Central Arkansas and is one of six Feeding America food banks that helped found the Arkansas Hunger Relief Alliance. The others include Food Bank of North Central Arkansas, Food Bank of Northeast Arkansas, Harvest Regional Food Bank, River Valley Regional Food Bank and the Northwest Arkansas Food Bank.

Entergy Arkansas is a longtime partner to the Alliance, which seeks to advocate on food policy, provide resources, source nutritious food, secure food and funding, promote nutrition education, increase out of school meals participation, and raise awareness of hunger in the state.

Last year, Entergy Arkansas donated $110,000 to the group as part of its Entergy Arkansas Bright Futures campaign celebrating 110 years in the state.

Since its founding in 2001, the Alliance has grown to include more than 500 members: the original six Feeding America food bank members, local food pantries, soup kitchens, food rescue organizations, global food wholesalers and retailers, state level hunger programs and hunger advocates from around the state who are working daily to reduce hunger in Arkansas.

Programs through the Alliance and sponsored by Entergy Arkansas this year will include the Hunger Action Breakfast, Serving Up Solutions, Watermelon Crawl and College Hunger Summit.

While we are putting a lot of effort into addressing food insecurity in June, you'll also see us serving in our community in other ways. One grantee we'll be volunteering to help with is Mosaic Templars Cultural Center Juneteenth in Da Rock commemoration, which happens all month long. It's one of several ways we help create and celebrate diversity, inclusion and belonging for our employees and our communities.