By CHRISTY HENDRICKS
Leader staff writer
The state could be seeing a new light shed on its hunger war with help from celebrity Judge Reinhold.
The actor, known for his roles in the cult classic “Fast Times at Ridgemont High,” “Beverly Hills Cop I and II” and “The Santa Clause” trilogy of films, has taken an interest in promoting Hunger Awareness Month during September.
Reinhold made a stop at Fishnet Missions in Jacksonville Thursday to see just how members of the Arkansas Food Bank work to fill the needs of the hungry in the state.
Arkansas has a rate of 24.4 percent of the child population living in a food-insecure household, according to www.feedingamerica.org. Statistics provided by the USDA back up that fact. According to White, “There are new people who are dealing with hunger now because of the economy.”
Arkansas isn’t just No. 1 in child hunger, it’s also No. 1 in hunger in the nation.
“We were showing Judge around the Fishnet,” Ray White, Arkansas Food Bank marketing and communications director, said Thursday in an interview with The Leader. “He’s been interested in the food bank and the work it’s done, particularly the child hunger. He (Judge) initiated the contact.”
Reinhold said donations from food banks like Fishnet Missions help people buy medications who would normally have to choose between the two.
“I think he was impressed that over 200 families got quite a bit of food from Fishnet this morning,” White continued. “They have quite an operation out there.
“He was just watching how that went and he wanted to meet some people who were using the food pantry. Quite a few people actually.”
White says the Arkansas Food Bank “really appreciates Judge’s interest and rapt attention. How much he’s really taking in, he obviously cares about this issue.”
Reinhold, whose wife is Arkansan Amy Miller, has taken a liking to the state and an interest in the hunger battle.
“His celebrity will help draw attention to our issue,” White said. “The support system is here, but we lack the ability to get food to the rural areas. We need volunteers, money for vehicles, staff and gas to power the vehicles.”
“We’re the largest food pantry in the state of Arkansas,” said Dewey Sims of Fishnet Missions.
“That’s why he came here.” Fishnet serves more than 9,000 customers per month, according to Sims. “That’s anybody who wants to come up and get some food.
Fishnet Missions is a public, charitable organization, according to Sims.
“We’re an independent food pantry,” he said. “We are a member of the (Arkansas Food Bank) network. We get a lot of food from the food bank.”
“It went wonderful, I think,” Sims said of Reinhold’s visit. “He was very impressed with a smooth-running operation. We had about 85 volunteers. He was laid back, very nonchalant.”
Sims said Reinhold spoke with some of the 250 people who were picking up food packages at the pantry Thursday morning, as well as toured the Fishnet Missions building.
“They hugged him, got pictures taken with him,” Sims said. “He got a good response.”
Sims believes bringing a celebrity in will help raise awareness of the hunger situation in Arkansas.
“It’s a turn-your-head-around kind of experience when you find out we’re the number one for hunger in the nation and number one for childhood hunger,” White said. “Everybody in Arkansas should be upset that we’re number one in childhood hunger in the nation.”
