Fighting Childhood Hunger
Samaritan Community Center (SCC) packs and distributes 6,000 snackpacks each week to 160 schools in four counties throughout Northwest Arkansas during the regular school year. Our purpose in distributing snackpacks is to provide some weekend food for children who are at-risk for food insecurity.
The SnackPacks for Kids program is largely donation driven and we have developed “SnackPacks+” events for the purpose of raising additional funds and to enhance the experience of community involvement towards solving the problem of food insecurity. SnackPacks+ events combine the acts of giving food and packing SnackPacks.
198,165
SnackPacks distributed in 2023
For More Information Or To Volunteer
Contact SnackPacks Coordinator, Jon Rambo, at jrambo@samcc.org or call 479.636.4198.
HOW TO HELP
One-Time or Monthly Donation
Today, it costs approximately $18,000 each week to feed the 6,000 children participating in this program. You can help us continue to ensure hungry children in Northwest Arkansas do not suffer food insecurity on weekends by donating to SnackPacks for Kids!
Donate Snacks
We are currently accepting the following donations for this program: ramen noodles and single serve chicken pouches.
All food donations may be dropped off at the SCC Administrative Office, 2910 S. 8th Street, Rogers, Monday-Thursday from 8:30am-4:30pm and Friday 8:30am-12:00pm.
Host a Food Drive
You can help us continue to ensure hungry children in NWA do not suffer food insecurity on weekends by hosting a SFK food drive at your business, organization or school.
For more information on how to host a food drive for our SnackPacks for Kids program, email Shannon Green, or call her at (479) 636-4198.
More About the Program
Prior to joining Samaritan Community Center, Debbie Rambo heard a story from a teacher-friend about a kindergarten student who went to school one Monday morning, smelled the food cooking in the cafeteria and collapsed. As the teacher and school nurse talked to him, they learned that the last time he had eaten was the previous Friday, when he ate his school lunch.
Dumbfounded that this could actually be going on in communities across our country, Debbie resolved that someday, somehow she was going to do something about that problem if it did indeed exist in our community. So when she joined the staff of SCC as its executive director in 2002 she began researching ways to help hungry Northwest Arkansas families. She found a snackpacks program in a nearby community that gave food to school children on Fridays to take home to insure they had something to eat on weekends and began the process of modeling Samaritan’s SnackPacks for Kids program.
Debbie called a couple of friends who were school counselors, received permission to provide snackpacks to their schools, and in January 2005, Samaritan began weekly deliveries to three local elementary schools: Bonnie Grimes and Grace Hill in Rogers and Mary Mae Jones in Bentonville. The program is now serving 160 local schools!
“Serving with SnackPacks is a fun and effective way to fight the food insecurity so many kids in our community face on a weekly basis.”
Jon Rambo
SnackPacks for Kids Coordinator
SnackPacks for Kids FAQ
What is a SnackPack?
A Samaritan Community Center snackpack is a small white plastic shopping bag filled with 7 healthy snacks. Snackpacks usually contain (items may vary, depending on donations) a chicken pouch, two single-serve cereal bowls (cold cereal only), ramen, Slim Jim-type meat sticks, shelf stable milk, and a fruit strip. Because of the number of school children with peanut allergies, SnackPacks for Kids is a peanut free program.
Which schools participate in this program?
We currently operate in 160 schools across the four-county area of Northwest Arkansas including Head Start Centers, public preschool centers, and elementary, middle, junior and high schools. Each year, every school is given the opportunity to participate in the program.
How are SnackPacks distributed?
Between 5,500-6,000 children in 160 NWA schools and head start centers receive a snackpack every Friday during the calendar school year. During the summer, snackpacks are distributed by request to our clients through our Samaritan Markets and Cafés.
Who determines which children receive a snackpack?
SCC relies on the school counselors to determine which children are the most at-risk for hunger or food insecurity on the weekends. When schools enroll in the Snackpacks for Kids program, they are allotted a specific number of snackpacks based on 20% of their student free/reduced lunch population. We do this to ensure that as many schools as possible receive some snackpacks for kids in need.
Are the SnackPack items donated?
While SCC is thankful for the many food drives that support SnackPacks for Kids, due to the many dietary constraints the center continues to purchase the majority of our snack items at a cost of over $72,000 each month. Our organization does not receive any state or federal funding for this. SnackPacks for Kids is funded by grants, food drives and through generous donations from individuals, businesses, corporations and area churches.