Methodist Foundation for Arkansas’ Third Quarter Grants Top $400,000

Total for first nine months of 2026 surpasses $728,000

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (October 1, 2026)—The Grant Administration Committee of the Methodist Foundation for Arkansas (MFA) Board of Directors awarded 21 grants totaling $403,227 across its monthly meetings of the third quarter, bringing the committee’s year-to-date granted funds to $728,741.

“Here at the Foundation, we’re so grateful to be able to give the fruits of this work to churches and nonprofits that have the power to change the world for the better,” said MFA President and CEO the Rev. J. Wayne Clark. “Investments rooted in decades of careful management provide crucial support so that needs can be met today. Thanks to careful stewardship of these funds over the long haul, MFA can make grants that work for the good of Arkansas congregations, the people they serve, and the communities that surround them.”

Grantees and the amounts awarded to them by the committee during the third calendar quarter are:

1. Decarcerate Arkansas: $19,279 to establish community care networks with United Methodist congregations in support of people who are exiting incarceration.
2. Lydia Patterson Institute: $10,000 to develop a lay ministry program at the El Paso, Texas-based school to help cross-border youth to teach faith in their homes, churches, and communities.
3. Potluck Food Rescue: $10,000 to assist in the collection of food daily from central Arkansas restaurants and grocery stores and placing that leftover food at local feeding sites where it can be used.
4. Wesley College Foundation of Tanzania: $15,000 in scholarships for approximately 200 students who are part of the Tanzania Annual Conference of the UMC to support the education of servant leaders for the church and communities; 57% of Tanzanians live on less than two dollars per day.
5. CareLink: $7,500 to support Meals on Wheels deliveries in Saline and Pulaski Counties. This amount covers four recipients for an entire calendar year, providing critical support that empowers older adults to remain in their homes and maintain their independence.
6. University of Arkansas Jane B. Gearhart Full Circle Food Pantry: $18,400 to support the pantry’s Free Farmers Market, a project designed to help reduce the stigma of needing food assistance, bring this resource into the light, and to support the campus community with compassion and dignity. It will also support the 17 mini-pantries across the Fayetteville campus.
7. The Cobblestone Project: $30,000 for improving soil fertility and extending the growing season to increase the capacity to grow and donate nutrient-dense food to neighbors experiencing food insecurity across Northwest Arkansas.
8. Holy Sews: $3,500 to comfort families experiencing miscarriage, stillbirth, or early loss by providing hospitals with handmade burial layettes (tiny clothing sets), ensuring that babies who are too small for standard preemie clothes are handled with dignity. Holy Sews layettes ease the burden on nurses and families during critical moments, allowing parents to dress their baby, take photos, create keepsakes, and cherish the limited time they have with their child. These acts validate the baby’s life and identity, help parents process grief, and reduce feelings of trauma, shock, and helplessness.
9. Arkansas Imagination Library: $20,000 to help child care providers in Cleburne, Independence, Izard, Sharp, and Stone counties maintain and expand access to Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, with the goal of increasing enrollment in the area from 65% to 69% of eligible children by July 2027. This project strengthens school readiness for young children and supports workforce stability for their parents.
10. Samaritan Community Center (SCC): $15,000 to improve nutrition for food-insecure children through the SnackPacks for Kids program. While operations are based in Rogers, the program covers weekend food support for children enrolled at 163 PreK–12 schools across Benton, Washington, Madison, and Carroll counties. SCC’s sponsored packing events hosted throughout northwest Arkansas engage community partners in hands-on volunteer opportunities in support of these children.
11. Arkansas Foodbank: $75,000, the first of three annual installments totaling $225,000 in support of two critical hunger-relief plans: the Fresh Produce Initiative and the School Markets Program. These two projects will help increase access to nutritious food for children, families, and seniors throughout the Foodbank’s 33-county service area.
12. Shelter for Healing During Medical Crisis Project: $15,000 to Home for Healing for providing safe and affordable temporary housing near medical care for those receiving treatment and their families. By providing safe and stable housing, Home for Healing helps reduce financial stress, emotional exhaustion, and isolation during some of life’s most difficult moments.
13. Big Brothers Big Sisters of Fort Smith: $15,000 to help Big Brothers Big Sisters of Northwest Arkansas expand proven, one-to-one youth mentoring services into Fort Smith, creating a long-term support system for young people who may be facing barriers connected to poverty, limited opportunity, and lack of access to consistent adult guidance.
14. Family Network: $28,348 to increase access to diapers and menstrual products. Because these hygiene items are not covered by SNAP benefits, families with limited incomes are often forced to choose between purchasing diapers or period supplies and paying for food, rent, utilities, transportation, or other necessities. This grant will strengthen existing partnerships with four churches’ food pantries in northwest Arkansas: Bread of Life Food Pantry of Springdale, 2nd Street Pantry of Bentonville, Farmington UMC, and Grace Chapel UMC of Rogers.
15. New Beginnings: $9,000 for A Place to Heal: Medical Respite Cabins at New Beginnings, which provides short-term shelter, healthcare coordination, and supportive services that enable people experiencing homelessness to complete their medical plans of care in a safe, supportive environment.
16. Compassion House: $22,000 toward the Strong Foundations: Building Stability for Teen Mothers and Babies program, which strengthens community health by caring for the physical, emotional, and spiritual needs of young mothers. Through nutritious meals, grief counseling, art therapy, and safe transportation, residents experience healing, hope, and stability.
17. The Hope Movement: $25,000 to support improvements to housing and programs for women in recovery from substance abuse.
18. Humble Beginnings: $10,000 to provide safe, stable and supportive transitional housing for families experiencing homelessness.
19. First UMC of Camden: $30,000 to cover the cost of the ministry’s food budget for approximately one year based on our current projections for the next cycle ending in July 2027.
20. South District of the Arkansas Conference UMC: $6,000 in matching funds to increase awareness in the South District of the realities of food insecurity.
21. ARUMC Called Forward: $19,200 will provide funding for 12 youth and two adults to attend Exploration, an event to encourage and train young adults who are discerning calls to ministry.

Additional Grants Beyond Committee Action

In addition to the grants listed above, the Foundation has made other disbursements beyond the committee’s purview, such as support that originates in other funds, and smaller disbursements that do not require committee action according to the MFA Board of Directors bylaws.

Like the committee disbursements, these gifts span MFA’s six grant priority areas: 1) Food Security, Homelessness, and Poverty; 2) Clergy and Laity Education; 3) Community Health; 4) Evangelism and Discipleship; 5) Diversity; and 6) Environmental Awareness and Energy Education. Examples of such disbursements include support from a donor-directed fund in support of arts initiatives, education, environmental programs, United Methodist community outreach, and helping needy Arkansans.

MFA welcomes grant proposals from United Methodist and Pan-Methodist churches and organizations, as well as non-church-related community nonprofits that pursue goals aligning with one or more of the priorities listed at methodistfoundationAR.org/grants. Churches and organizations planning to request funds from MFA should also visit this link to establish a login for the Foundation’s Grant Portal. Addressing food insecurity in Arkansas remains a top priority of the Foundation’s grant program.

About the Methodist Foundation for Arkansas

With a mission to establish and manage charitable funds to strengthen and expand Methodist ministries across Arkansas, the Methodist Foundation for Arkansas manages over $280 million in endowment funds and other charitable assets that benefit local churches and other United Methodist ministries. Founded in 1963, the Foundation has grown into one of the largest United Methodist foundations in the country, managing more than 800 funds that support Methodist ministries. To learn more, visit methodistfoundationAR.org.