How We’re Supporting Our Community In Northwest Arkansas

How We’re Supporting Our Community In Northwest Arkansas

The Alice L. Walton Foundation is supporting a vibrant community through grants to local organizations, including the Bentonville Public Library, Bentonville’s Best Friends Pet Resource Center and the Northwest Arkansas Food Bank. 

The Alice L. Walton Foundation prioritizes supporting local Northwest Arkansas communities, especially organizations aimed at supporting education, culture, and health and well-being. Supporting these organizations is one of the many ways that the foundation creates meaningful change and assists individuals in living a fulfilling life.

Below are just a few of the recent organizations and initiatives that we’ve supported to continue nurturing the development of the Northwest Arkansas region: 

Bentonville Public Library

Libraries are an essential part of communities — providing free educational opportunities for residents of all ages to connect and learn, as well as offering a place for the community to access local resources.

To help support local libraries, the Alice L. Walton Foundation gifted the Bentonville Public Library System a $500,000 grant to help fund the expansion of the library system. This grant will help expand opportunities for community experiences and heighten exposure to the arts and education.

“Alice Walton’s philanthropy has significantly contributed to Bentonville’s culture and her gift to our public library will also have a lasting impact in our community,” says Hadi Dudley, Library Director.

This grant helps fuel the foundation’s efforts to increase educational opportunities and accessibility. Simultaneously, expanding Bentonville’s library system will continue to help foster a sense of community by providing more opportunities to develop community interest in the arts, architecture, health and well-being, and education. 

Best Friends Pet Resource Center

With help from the Alice L. Walton Foundation and other philanthropic donors, the Best Friends Animals Society’s Best Friends Pet Resource Center opened its doors in Bentonville, AR. The new shelter will be a first-of-its-kind initiative and go above and beyond to support both people and pets in Northwest Arkansas.

The shelter offers resources for both animals and their owners, including support for families to keep pets in their homes. The center is also aiming to establish itself as a community destination for locals to interact with animals. Instead of the traditional kennels or cages associated with shelters, the dogs at the resource center will be in foster care or can come in for the day from a partner shelter to stay in meet-and-greet rooms with attached play yards. The cats available for adoption will live in foster care or on-site in free-roaming rooms.

The space will offer a veterinary clinic, fostering and adoption programs, a pet rehabilitation program, an on-site cafe (featuring free Wi-Fi) and other resources to help people take care of their animals.

The Pet Resource Center aims to help make Arkansas a fully no-kill state for animals in shelters, furthering the Best Friends Animal Society’s mission to make America fully no-kill by 2025.

The Northwest Arkansas Food Bank

The Northwest Arkansas Food Bank of Springdale works to build partnerships in the region to distribute healthy and nutritious food to food-insecure residents. To support their strategic initiatives, the Alice L. Walton Foundation gifted the food bank a $3.5 million grant. The majority of the grant, $3 million, will support the construction of the distribution center in Lowell — matching a gift from the Walton Family Foundation. The other $500,000 will help provide healthy foods for the region over two years. 

The new Lowell center will house operations, including a new 82,000 sq. ft. distribution center and a teaching garden for the community. With the grant from the foundation, the new facility will be able to expand its capacity and programs and support a 60% increase in the distribution of healthy, nutritious food.

Supporting the Northwest Arkansas Food Bank helps support the health and well-being of the Northwest Arkansas region and strengthens the local community.