Sheriff’s office and church create Hearts for the Hungry event
HIGHLAND, Ark. (KAIT) - A program that started during the government shutdown to help families in need in Sharp County will continue through the holidays.
The Sharp County Sheriff’s Office and Highland Assembly partnered to create Hearts for the Hungry, which feeds around 100 families per week.
“We saw that our people were in need, immediately, so how could we meet those immediate needs? We put together a team of volunteers,” said Monica Wiles, outreach coordinator for Highland Assembly.
Community donations fuel program
Community members donated food items, hunters brought harvested deer meat, and a butcher dedicated his time to processing the meat.
“With it being deer season, we reached out to our local people: donate one if you can. And it’s been wonderful,” Sharp County Sheriff Shane Russell said.
The program was originally started to help those whose SNAP benefits were delayed during the government shutdown, but organizers decided to continue after it reopened.
“Well, do we stop it? And we were like, ‘No, we don’t,’ because we’ve been given this assignment to do and we need to take care of our people,” Wiles said.
Russell said the community response has been strong.
“It’s amazing with the response that we’ve had. It’s amazing on how your deer hunters, local hunters, people from other places knowing that we’re doing this has come together and brought deer meat. It’s amazing the love that we have for this area,” Russell said.
Highland Assembly distributes food on Monday and Wednesday. This week they will only distribute on Monday because of Thanksgiving.
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