Langar Lunch to Bring Awareness to Food Security

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The Full Circle Campus Food Pantry is one of the recipients of the food donated through the fourth annual World Food Day food drive.

The University of Arkansas is concluding its fourth annual food drive with a luncheon in acknowledgement of World Food Day from noon to 1 p.m. Friday, Oct. 14 in Arkansas Union Room 507-509.

The food drive began Sept. 16 and ends Friday, Oct. 14. World Food Day is observed Oct. 16.

World Food Day is a worldwide event designed to increase awareness and understanding and to encourage a year-around action to alleviate hunger. The University of Arkansas has been named as an official collection site for the past four years. All the collections will be matched on a 10-to-1 basis up to 60,000 pounds by Tyson Foods Inc., the event’s chief sponsor. All food will be donated to the Full Circle Campus Food Pantry and Northwest Arkansas Food Bank.

The food collected at the Troy football game as part of the fourth annual Southeastern Conference “Together We CAN Food Drive,” counts toward this year’s tally.

A Langar lunch will be provided. Langar, which literally means “free kitchen,” is a Sikh tradition for feeding the hungry. Every Sikh temple throughout the world has a Langar, but the Sikh soup kitchen has similarities to a traditional American soup kitchen. The Langar is open to everyone. Volunteering in the cooking, serving and cleaning process is considered a form of active spiritual practice for devotees, but the service provided by the temple requires no religious obligations from its recipients. The spirit of inclusion and equality is reinforced by the kitchen’s adherence to vegetarianism, not because Sikhs are vegetarian, but because others who visit may be, so by serving no meat, they exclude nobody.

At 12:20 p.m., Ed Nicholson, the director of community relations for Tyson Foods, Inc., and Julia Lyon, student manager for the Full Circle Campus Food Pantry will be the featured speakers.

Bobby Petrino, head football coach at the University of Arkansas, served as honorary spokesperson and was featured on public service announcements being aired on campus and on local television stations.

Those wishing to contribute canned food items may leave them in boxes found at various locations throughout Northwest Arkansas. A list of locations may be found below, or visit the university Sustainability website for the most current list of drop-off locations. Monetary donations or online purchases of canned goods may be made at the Full Circle Campus Food Pantry or the Northwest Arkansas Food Bank’s website.

The Full Circle Campus Food Pantry is a student-run program that was established by the Volunteer Action Center within the Division of Student Affairs as an emergency assistance program that distributes food and toiletries to any member of the University of Arkansas community. The Full Circle Campus Food Pantry strives to nourish bodies, empower minds and build a community of compassion.

Members of the campus community are invited to attend the lunch, but must RSVP to Nick Brown, director of the office for campus sustainability, before Wednesday, Oct. 12.

Donation locations through Friday, Oct. 14:

Arkansas World Trade Center - 3300 Market St., Suite 400, Rogers, 479-418-4800

University of Arkansas Global Campus at Rogers -3300 Market St., Suite 420, Rogers, 479-464-5024

University of Arkansas Global Campus at Fayetteville -2 E. Center St., Fayetteville University of

Arkansas Office of Study Abroad -722 W. Maple St., Fayetteville, 5-7582

Fayetteville Chamber of Commerce - 123 W. Mountain, Fayetteville, 479-521-1710

Fayetteville City Hall and all City of Fayetteville Fire Stations

Rogers-Lowell Area Chamber of Commerce - 317 W. Walnut, Rogers AR 72756, 479-636-1240

Bentonville/Bella Vista Chamber of Commerce - 200 E. Central Ave., Bentonville, 479-273-2841

University of Arkansas Facilities Management - 521 S. Razorback Road, C-105, Fayetteville, 575-6601

Northwest Arkansas Food Bank - 1378 June Self Drive, Bethel Heights, 479-872-8774

Springdale Chamber of Commerce - 202 W. Emma, Springdale, 479-872-2222

UA Campus Bookstore - Garland Center, 575-2979