Ark. food bank helps bridge growing gap

• Day-long festival Bridge Bash raises funds to fight hunger
• This year's event raised $60,000

Hunger statistics can be overwhelming: Nearly 15% of U.S. households (17.9 million) experienced some food insecurity in 2011, up from 14.5% in 2010, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

It takes a lot of grass-roots organizations and some creative fund- raising to tackle the growing issue. The Food Bank of North Central Arkansas in Norfork is one of them. The organization's big fundraising event is Bridge Bash, which was recently held for the second year.

Bridge Bash is a day-long festival featuring music, food and arts — all centered on historic Cotter Bridge in the tiny north-central Arkansas town of Cotter.

"We tried to design something that would be different," executive director Jeff Quick says. "Something where you didn't have to run or walk or bike. You just have to show up and have fun, like a musical festival."

People attending pledge $20 and gather on the bridge to "Stand Up for Hope."

Last year, more than 1,000 gathered on the bridge and raised nearly $40,000. This year, Quick says, almost 2,000 people stood on the bridge, and the event raised $60,000.

Over the past six years, the small food bank has more than doubled the amount of food it distributes annually. In 2011, it provided 1.6 million pounds of food in its rural nine-county service area. Arkansas exceeds the national average for households with some food insecurity at 19.2%.

"This year, we're looking at somewhere between 1.8 and 2 million pounds of (food) distribution," Quick says. "That's why coming up with new fundraising ideas is critical to us, and I'm sure to food banks around the country."

Pieper also reports for The Baxter Bulletin in Mountain Home, Ark.