Nonprofit Spotlight

words Catherine Frederick with Charlotte Tidwell, Executive Director and Founder Pastor, Antioch for Youth and Family

Antioch for Youth and Family, an all-volunteer nonprofit effort, serves Western Arkansas with community solutions through persistence and partnerships. Antioch is a million meal provider to over twenty five thousand people monthly in a community where one-in-five people are food insecure. Senior and Veterans Mobile Pantries deliver food to low income elderly, disabled persons and struggling families who have served our country. Do South® reached out to Charlotte Tidwell, Founder and Executive Director, to learn more.

1420 North 32nd Street Fort Smith, AR 72904 479.459.0669 antiochyouthfamily.org

Next month, we’ll showcase another worthy charity in our area free of charge. If you have a nonprofit you’d like to see recognized, email us at catherine@dosouthmagazine.com. DS: In what ways does Antioch for Youth and Family support our communities? Over ten thousand children in Fort Smith public schools, one-in-four of our senior and disabled population, and well over six hundred veterans and their families, often go day to day unsure of their next meal. We provide farm-to-fork nutritional support through garden-based learning to children at the Antioch Discovery Garden, deliver fresh fruits and vegetables to as many as eight thousand students a month, maintain a ten thousand square foot community pantry for anyone to visit, encourage smart food choices and instruct teens and adults how to cook healthy meals on a budget, outreach to those most at-risk, host children in low-income nursing homes to comfort and interact with the most fragile among us, and advocate on a local, state and national level. Antioch works closely with the Urban Institute and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and partners with the Arkansas College of Health Education, The Guidance Center and local leaders to not only make Fort Smith hunger-free but also to become a trauma-informed care community. Antioch supports the community with $2.5M in nutritious food support.

DS: How is Antioch for Youth and Family assisting our community during the COVID-19 pandemic? We are serving families via a drive-thru with virtually contactless service. We host a weekly drive-thru event to get fresh produce, dairy and proteins to about four thousand people. We “drop and go” to low-income housing and schools and we began a “drop and knock” program for high-risk families. Partnering with The Guidance Center and Fort Smith Police Department, we advocate for mental health services and to assure any threat of domestic violence due to food insecurity be quickly quelled. We now consistently serve more than twenty-five thousand people monthly and over one-third of those have never sought food assistance before.

DS: What is the greatest hurdle Antioch for Youth and Family faces rising from COVID-19? Funding and volunteers. We are an all-volunteer organization and the supply of those willing to assist is falling shorter than the demand for help. We are able to keep food cost just below ten cents a pound, but with annual distributions exceeding 1.5M pounds, the cost is dramatic, and that’s before taking into account transportation, insurance and other overhead costs.

DS: How can members of our community who would like to volunteer or make a financial donation do so? Also, are there any upcoming events our readers should know about? Volunteers are welcome weekdays 9 to 5 or call for more information. Food and fund drives are always appreciated. To make a financial donation, please use our website, or a gift may be sent to PO Box 1571, Fort Smith, AR 72902-1571. November 21st will mark the 8th Annual Antioch in the Park at Thanksgiving event. The event provides food for over ten thousand people!