The Arkansas Hunger Relief Alliance received a gift of over $53,000 from Coulson Oil and Shell on Wednesday. The check presentation at Coulson Oil’s North Little Rock headquarters was the culmination of the company’s participation in Shell’s The Giving Pump, an initiative benefiting children charities.
“COVID-19 has exacerbated food insecurity challenges in our state,” said Kathy Webb, CEO of Arkansas Hunger Relief Alliance. “During these unprecedented times, we’re grateful to partners like Coulson Oil and Shell for helping us reduce child hunger.”
The Arkansas Hunger Relief Alliance is a collaborative organization that works on behalf of and with Arkansans facing hunger. In 2004, the Arkansas Foodbank, Food Bank of North Central Arkansas, Food Bank of Northeast Arkansas, Harvest Regional Food Bank, River Valley Regional Food Bank and the Northwest Arkansas Food Bank, with the assistance of a 3-year start-up grant from the Reynolds Foundation, formally incorporated the Arkansas Hunger Relief Alliance in the state of Arkansas. In 2008, the Arkansas Hunger Coalition merged with the Arkansas Hunger Relief Alliance, thus expanding the scope of the Alliance’s work into issues of advocacy and anti-hunger policy.
“For more than half a century, Coulson Oil has strived to be a pillar of the communities we serve by giving back to local residents and causes,” said John Harris, president and CEO. “We are proud to partner with Shell to be a ‘Force for Good’ at a time when organizations like the Arkansas Hunger Relief Alliance need our support more than ever.”
As part of its Force For Good initiative, Shell launched the The Giving Pump at stations across the U.S., with proceeds benefitting local children-focused nonprofits. From August – September, 21 Coulson Oil locations participated in the effort by contributing three cents of every gallon sold at the designated pumps to the Arkansas Hunger Relief Alliance.
North Little Rock-based Coulson Oil is a multi-branded distributor of gasoline and diesel fuel that offers two of the top-branded fuels—Shell and Valero—services and products to more than 200 convenience stores and fuel outlets in Arkansas, Tennessee, Texas and Oklahoma. In 2012, Coulson Oil Company purchased two Road Runner convenience stores in Texarkana. Today, Coulson Oil also has Road Runner stores in Conway, Fayetteville, Fort Smith, Heber Springs, Hot Springs and Little Rock.
Pictured: From LtoR: Cherylon Reid, Matthew Wallace, Temeka Williams, John Harris, Kathy Webb, Mike Coulson, Bobbi McDaniel, and Rebekah Hall. Photo Credit: Nelson Chenault
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