BENTONVILLE, Ark. — A Bentonville food truck called "For the Love NWA" is celebrating a year of feeding the community for free.
“I love these people very, very, very much,” said Lonni Bell, who was formerly homeless and an alcoholic, and is now volunteering to help homeless people in Fayetteville. “They’ve done me a great deal, man. They saved my life.”
He is a year-long customer and has been coming to the food truck since the day it opened on Nov. 4, 2020. The food truck was located off Main Street in downtown Bentonville.
Meredith Chafee, Melissa Williams and Jennifer Cristofaro opened the food truck after seeing a need for food during the height of the coronavirus pandemic.
“When people were in isolation, food insecurities were really on the rise,” Cristofaro said. “A lot of people were just lonely and hurting. And we know that they needed community.”
The food truck is run on a pay-what-you-can system Monday-Wednesday, and on Friday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. They serve free dinners on Thursdays from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. They serve around 200 people every week.
“We had 8,500 free meals now in the last year,” Cristofaro said.
A new location and a year later, they’re continuing their mission of "Feed People, Love People," which is also having a ripple effect on the community.
“I just love watching the community come together and use their individual gifts to serve each other,” Cristofaro said.
Those as young as 10 describe the fun at the food truck's one-year celebration.
“It makes me feel loved and cared for, it was great to serve,” said one girl who helped serve at the event on her birthday. She also donated money raised on her birthday to give to the non-profit.
The nonprofit announced this week that it raised more than $20,000 toward buying a drivable truck, helping them reach more people in the community.
“We feel but he drivable food trucks will help us reach the community,” Cristofaro said. “This belongs to the community it’s not ours.”
"For the Love NWA" is located near A and 6th Streets in Bentonville.
If you are looking to donate to the nonprofit, their Venmo is FLT-NWA or click here.