A community wide Christmas Food Drive is working to stock the shelves of the Hot Springs Community Resource Center as it heads into one of its busiest seasons, organizers said.
The drive, hosted by Steamatic of Hot Springs, runs through Dec. 18 and focuses on collecting nonperishable foods and other staples to help the center serve daily lunches and support families during the long holiday break.
“After connecting with (the resource center) and hearing about their mission, we just knew that’s who needed our help,” Steamatic Operations and Marketing Director Deidra Ellison said. “They see about 80 people daily for their lunch. … We want to help fill those gaps of what they need in their kitchen to be able to serve those lunches daily.”
Ellison said the center brings 10 to 12 local organizations under one roof to assist residents working to regain stability. The need remains significant, she said, noting that one in five Hot Springs residents lives in poverty.
Recommended donation items include canned vegetables and fruits, beans, tuna, chicken, pasta sauces, noodles, rice, cereal, bread, chips, crackers, spices, granola bars, frozen foods, cooking oil and meal prep gloves. The center’s kitchen staff prepares full meals daily, often relying on donated staples.
This year’s effort is the third annual Christmas Food Drive organized by Steamatic. It first supported Ali’s All Created Equal A.C.E. Closet, and last year’s drive helped Project HOPE Food Bank. Ellison said choosing the resource center this year “was a no-brainer,” especially as its daily meal count has doubled from about 40 people when it first opened.
“We’re more involved with them this year,” she said. “We requested a list of what they actually needed. We chose to do Christmas because that’s kind of forgotten sometimes, like, everybody helps with Thanksgiving, but not everybody always helps with Christmas.
“And there’s a larger break, with kids that are out of school, that might have parents that need help for longer — they need to be able to go to those places and get food while they’re out of school and don’t have the breakfast or lunch provided. That was one of the things we discussed was that they do see quite a few families with kids they are helping feed. And, obviously, inflation is a big one. A lot of people are just trying to survive with groceries, rent, basic needs, so to speak.”
Mary Morgan, development director at the resource center, said it is “deeply grateful” to Steamatic for its support.
“Their generosity directly strengthens our free, sit-down lunch served every Monday through Friday from 12 to 1 (p.m.), ensuring our neighbors in need receive a warm, nutritious meal in a welcoming space. Partnerships like this remind us what a caring community we have here in Hot Springs,” Morgan said.
The center also expects higher demand as temperatures drop and more people seek its warming shelter.
“They are serving really good meals. They have a chef in their kitchen, as well, that puts all of those together,” she said.
Ellison said the drive is just one of several annual efforts Steamatic organizes, including a backpack and suitcase drive for foster agencies, a back-to-school supply drive and the company’s recently completed fourth annual coat and shoe drive, which collected more than 320 coats and hundreds of winter accessories.
“It makes me realize how blessed I am to be able to do all of the things or help where we can,” she said. “You know, sometimes we don’t think about how lucky we are to have a home, food, a job — just basic needs. So every year that we do this, every community drive we do, all of those things we do here to help this community make us all realize how fortunate we are, just to have basics, because there are a lot of people, like I said, one in five, that live in poverty.”
Ellison said a generous donor is matching all monetary gifts to the center this season. Donations can be made online through the center’s website or Facebook page.
Drop-off locations for food items include Steamatic, Power Chiropractic, NRB Insurance Agency and National Park Medical Center, with more locations to be announced. Updates will be posted on Steamatic’s Facebook page.
Recently donated food items for this year’s Christmas Food Drive are shown at Steamatic of Hot Springs, 112 Jefferson St., on Wednesday. (The Sentinel-Record/Brandon Smith)
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