About the Show:

"It's not a lack of food problem. You know, our country has an abundance of food. It's getting that food to the people that need it."

       – Chef Sam Walker

Hunger doesn't take a day off.

For millions of children across the United States—and right here in Arkansas—food insecurity is a daily reality that shapes everything from how well a child sleeps to how clearly they think in school to how much hope they carry into their future.

On this episode of I Am Northwest Arkansas®, host Randy Wilburn sits down with Chef Sam Walker, the chef and owner of Gaskins on Emma in downtown Springdale, to talk about one of the most urgent and quietly persistent challenges facing our communities: making sure every child has enough to eat.

Sam's journey from growing up in Little Rock to building a restaurant rooted in hospitality and belonging has given him a front-row seat to both the power of food and the pain of its absence—and he's decided to do something about it.

Chef Sam Walker is the kind of cook who understands that food is never just food.

It is connection, dignity, memory, and care—all served on a single plate.

In this conversation, Sam opens up about how his love for the culinary craft has always been inseparable from his love for people and why that philosophy has drawn him into the fight against childhood hunger in a deep and personal way.

From the growing culinary renaissance reshaping Springdale and Northwest Arkansas into a legitimate food destination to the national movement rallying chefs, communities, and everyday people around the No Kid Hungry campaign, this episode is a reminder that the most powerful thing a community can do is feed its children—and that the people leading that charge are often the ones standing behind the stove.

Key Takeaways:

• Community Through Food: Bringing people together around the table builds lasting connections and support for those in need.
• Tackling Food Insecurity: Northwest Arkansas faces real challenges, but people in the region are stepping up to help.
• Chef's Night for No Kid Hungry: The event features 20 chefs, aiming to raise $50,000 to ensure kids don’t go hungry.
• Springdale’s Culinary Boom: Springdale is now recognized as a hub for outstanding food, thanks to chefs and entrepreneurs committed to growth.
• Multiple Ways to Help: Whether you buy a ticket, sponsor, or donate, you can be a part of this movement to end child hunger.

All this and more on this episode of the I Am Northwest Arkansas® podcast.

Important Links and Mentions on the Show*

• Chef’s Night for No Kid Hungry – April 26 at the Jones Center, Springdale
• Chef Cycle No Kid Hungry: Learn more, donate, or sponsor rides and events Chef Cycle 2026
• Chef Sam Walker on Instagram
• Chef Sam Walker on LinkedIn
• Gaskins on Emma (Springdale’s food corridor anchor)
• Hive at Bentonville – Raised $80,000+ for No Kid Hungry
• Mentioned chefs from out of town: Ted Cizma (California), Vinnie Cimino (Ohio), Joe Flamm (Chicago), Rebecca Masson (Texas), Lambert Givens (Boston)
• Sponsor, donate, or attend via links in the show notes or by emailing hello@iamnorthwestarkansas.com for direct info and connections

This episode is sponsored by*

FindItNWA.com 

Try ONBoardNWA.com Today!

*Note: some of the resources mentioned may be affiliate links. This means we get paid a commission (at no extra cost to you) if you use that link to make a purchase.

Connect more with I am Northwest Arkansas:

• Grab our Newsletter 
• Email Us at hello@iamnorthwestarkansas.com
• Connect With Our Facebook Page 
• Connect With Us on Threads
• Connect With Our Instagram 
• Connect With Our LinkedIn Page
• Join The Facebook Group 
• Connect with our Fearless Host, Randy Wilburn on LinkedIn

Thank you for listening to this I am Northwest Arkansas podcast episode. We showcase businesses, culture, entrepreneurship, and life in the Ozarks. 

Consider donating to our production team to keep this podcast running smoothly. Donate to I Am Northwest Arkansas

Mentioned in this episode:

FindItNWA.com

🎧 This episode is brought to you by FindItNWA.com – the hyper-local business directory made for Northwest Arkansas. From local eats to trusted pros, it’s the go-to spot for discovering what’s great nearby. 📣 Are you a business owner? Get listed today and connect with thousands of locals looking for what you offer. 👉 Visit FindItNWA.com to explore or join now.

FindItNWA.com

One of the things I love most about living in Northwest Arkansas is that

you never have to look far to find someone who is

doing something meaningful, someone who is using their gifts

to make this region a better place for all of us.

Today's guest is exactly that kind of person.

Chef Sam Walker is a Little Rock native who has spent

most of his life in kitchens. Not just cooking food, but.

But building community around it. He's the chef behind

Gaskins on Emma in downtown Springdale, one of

the anchors in what has quietly become one of the most

exciting food corridors in the entire state of

Arkansas. But today, we're not just talking about

what food can do and specifically, what

happens when some of the most talented chefs in the country

come together around a single mission. Making

sure no kid goes hungry. On

April 26, Chef Sam is helping lead

Chef's night for no Kid Hungry, a five course

dinner at the Jones center featuring 20 chefs,

200 seats, and a goal of raising

$50,000 for Share Our Strengths no

Kid Hungry campaign. Last year's event raised

just under $18,000 with only 76

people. This year, they're going bigger,

bolder, and more ambitious than ever before.

I'm Randy Wilburn, and this is. I am Northwest

Arkansas, where we tell the stories of the people, the

places, and the ideas shaping this region.

Chef Sam Walker, welcome to the show. Thanks

so much for having me, brother. It's great to be here. I certainly want to

give a shout out to Damara Baker, who is a dear friend of mine.

And anytime that day, Mara says you need to meet this person or you might

want to have this person on this show. I, you know, I'm always

quick to take a meeting and to learn more, so I'm glad that she brought

us together. So. So you grew up in Little Rock, and you

described yourself as someone who has spent most of his life in

kitchens. Yeah. Take me, take me back.

And. And I want to know what was the earliest moment you knew

that cooking was going to be your thing?

Well, let's see. I. At the ripe age of 16, I found myself

making King Caesar wraps and a tropical smoothie. You know, so

I. It's just such a. An interesting industry. It's such a.

So many different walks of life find themselves working together and people you

would never find yourself talking to or hanging out with. You know, it's

just a. It's just an interesting crew. It's an interesting industry.

And, you know, I think from the get go, it was. I. I

fell into it, but I think I. I couldn't see myself doing

anything else. You know, it's a, it's very much so something that

wasn't necessarily by design, but I'm glad it worked out the way it did.

So. Yeah. And you, I mean, you mentioned

that your mother wasn't actually a great cook, which I love

that because that's not the usual culinary backstory.

Right. I mean, what was it about the industry

itself that pulled you in if it

wasn't about recreating home cooking? I mean. Yeah,

that's, that's the joke. I'll make sure my mom doesn't watch this one. You know,

she, she's, she's great. She's incredible. But I grew up, you know, my, my

family's from the south, right. So I've got a lot of family down in Louisiana.

You know, my grandmother used to do some of the best fried chicken I've ever

had in my life down in Shreveport. And, you know, those,

those, those ties, you know, to just food and the community

with the family around the table are special. And I think that

I was fortunate enough pretty early to find myself in kitchens where

you kind of had that same group. Right. We had the same feel

of something bigger than just, you know, we're here for a paycheck. So it was,

I was fortunate, pretty early to work for guys that were pushing me to see,

you know, the value in what we were able to do on a day to

day basis than just a clock in, clock out mentality. Right.

So, yeah. Was there like, growing up, did you have a meal

that you really gravitated towards more than anything else

that really kind of set the standard for you when it came to thinking about

good food? I would say that meal that I described from my

grandmother is pretty important. And it wasn't just the fact that she made a

killer fried chicken. It was that the entire family was,

was coming to her house for that meal. And it was more

that kind of community, and it was bigger than just the meal itself.

So this thing stand out. And I've got, it's cool. I've got like a box

at home full of my great grandmother's recipes and just like

super simple Southern, you know, they were, they were all in Mississippi at the

time, so like just really old school recipes that

I've been able to kind of go through. And you could just feel the soul

that's in those meals. You know, it's not, it's, it's just, it's the most basic

stuff you could ever think of. Yeah, but for what those meals Mean,

for their kids and now myself and now, you know, our family.

That's special. It's special. It's something that's hard to recreate. That's what we always

push for. Right. Is to keep that feeling going. Yeah. So it

sounds like you got the concept or

idea of hospitality, honestly, just through the

coming together of your family. How has that

translated into your role as a chef, specifically

there at your restaurant? I think you find a lot of chefs these

days that have something deeper under the surface

where we're trying to take care of people. It's a selfless. You know, the service

industry is to be selfless, to take care of others. And

I think that that was instilled early. I grew up Southern Baptist. We

spent a lot of time going to different food banks, doing a lot of outreach

stuff with the church in that community. And I think some of that is probably

the backbone of what's instilled in me, to take care of people, you know,

and something you don't think about terribly often. But I think if I were to

really dig deeper and think it through, that's probably part of it,

is just I was. I've got great parents that, you know,

hopefully raised me right to a degree. Right. That, you know, just take care of

people, be a good person, take care of people. And that's

this industry that I'm in. And the role that I'm in here at Gaskins is

one where I can do that. You know, it's. It's a cool thing to

translate it from. You know, this is just how you are as

a person now. Let's just take care of as many people as possible. Right? Yeah.

Well, and that's why we're here having this conversation in the first place. So

you've built your home base in downtown Springdale at

Gaskins on Emma, that corridor. And I. And I was telling you

this the other day when we talked on the phone. That corridor has

changed dramatically in the last few years. Like, amazing.

I've been here 11 years now at the time of recording this, but,

man, Emma has changed a lot.

You've got Onyx. You have Casa alejo, rain

bistro 16. What. What does it mean

to be part of that culinary moment happening in

Springdale right now? I'm sitting here looking at, you know,

Emma Avenue right now, and it's. The growth is. Is incredible.

It's. It's phenomenal. It's wild. You know, even we opened just

coming up on two years, two years ago, and I

was telling you the other day, It's. You were able to park anywhere you wanted.

Pretty much, you know, you had street parking. Just walk right in. And it's. It's

hard to find. And that's just a testament to

the growth and how fast it's happening. We, we knew when we

opened this place that we were a little early into this thing, but we. You

could, you could see it all over the, you know, writing's pretty clear on the

wall that this, this area is booming, so it's cool to be a part of

it, you know. So you honestly see Springdale as

a culinary hub now, right? Because, I mean, it wasn't when I first moved here.

It was not that. Let's be very clear. And again, it's not. I'm

not pointing fingers. I'm just calling it as I see it. You

know, before, when I would go someplace to eat, if I wasn't eating in

Fayetteville, I'd either eat up in Bentonville and then certainly

Rogers. But now Springdale is on the menu, right? Springdale

is on the menu. I sure don't see why not. You know,

what's, what separates us from some of these other markets that maybe,

you know, maybe the investment is there a little sooner, maybe people gravitated towards those

areas a little quicker, but why not Springdale? You know, it's

an incredible city. My wife and I, we got our first home here. We love

it. You know, we spent time in Fayetteville, time in Bentonville. I love Springdale,

you know, and I'm, obviously, I'm an Arkansas guy, so I love it

all, but it's. It's a special. It's, you know, super blue collar. Like, it's just

kind of like my kind of people. And why not bring something, you know, a

little bit more to the table than maybe, maybe the area has seen. And I

think it's just going to keep trending that direction. When I was growing up, we

would. We would say, like, if. If we were talking about something that was really

established, you would say, oh, that's. Whatever that is, has arrived.

But then if you were talking about some. Something that was more aspirational or

it was on the growth curve, right? You would say, oh, they're on the come

up. And I always say Springdale is on the come up. Like, it's like,

I have friends that have invested in Springdale, like you said, like, you own a

house in Springdale. I have friends that have moved to Springdale and really

have had nothing but good things to say. And I will say that the Business

environment in Springdale is. Is pretty solid, especially

for an entrepreneur that might be watching this or listening to this

episode. And you know it. There is a lot of

opportunity there in the city of Springdale. And this is a secret that

I don't know that many people know. Springdale is huge. Like,

it's really big. It's way bigger than you think. A lot of times people think,

oh, well, you know, you go up 71 or you go across

412 and you're like that. Springdale, Springdale. I mean, it. It

ventures out. And so if you look on a map and look at the size

of Springdale, there's a lot of opportunity for growth in that

city. And so. And I love giving Springdale a shout out

whenever I can. I've had so many different people that represent

Spring Springdale for various causes on this

podcast, and we always talk about what Springdale represents. I've

had the Downtown alliance on. I mean, you name it, we. We've

talked about the potential of Springdale. And so it's here to stay

is what I'm saying. We're just happy to be a part. We say that all

the time. We're just very proud to be here. And so just.

Just play a small part. You know, it's all about kind of planting seeds. And,

you know, once people catch on, then it's. Then it's just going to take off

even further. So, you know, we're here for the ride. You know, here's the

reason, one of the main reasons why we were coming together to talk, and it's

about something, as I told you, how important food

insecurity is a major issue in this country,

in this state and in this region. Let's talk a

little bit about the chef's night for no kid hungry. Can you tell me a

little bit about this event and this program? How did

this event come to be and. And what does it mean

to you personally to be one of the people leading it?

So, obviously, last year was our first year doing this event, and

there's a. There's a bit of a learning curve, I think, to any event, any.

Any event like this. And we have

a lot of great people involved in the dinner last year, and we've kind of

all come together this year and said, you know, why. Why not. Why not make

this thing bigger? Why not build it and try to have an even bigger

impact this year? And so this event specifically, you know,

started as a. Do we do it here in the restaurant? Again, Obviously, downtown Springdale's

got the street dinner that does very well. Some stuff like that. So we just

started looking. Looking a little outside the box. Our. Our good

friend down here, Mike Gilbert, He's. He's been a big part of this dinner and

kind of mentioning some ideas. And we. We landed on the Jones center, and they

obviously did a ton of great work in the area, so. Or partnering with

those guys, and, you know, they're going to be hosting it in their space. So

we have. We have way more bodies in the room. It's just. It's just more

opportunity for a bigger impact, essentially. What were some of the initial

reactions that you heard from the inaugural event

of this last year from those people that attended?

I mean, super well received. It's, you know, I was telling you the other day,

it's not a hard. It's not a hard sell to come together to

defeat kids. It's vital. It's super important. Next generation. What can we do to

set them up for success and just take care of the people around us?

So the event, very well received. It was small enough that it was definitely

manageable. We had some incredible chefs on that one. We had

Jason Paul from Heirloom. He was there. We had Will Mock down here. We had

the guys from Rain. One of my mentors from Little Rock, Kobe Smith, was up

in town for it. So we had a great crew, and we were basically

just taking that whole crew. They're going to be on this next dinner. And we

just kept growing it. Right, so now we've got some. Some national chefs that are

coming in. We've got more. Total of 20 participating, right? 20

chefs local and 5 from out of town. That's right. It's like herding

cats, man. It's a challenge, right? We're all. We're all super busy, especially this. This

day and age with food cost rising. And we're trying to manage businesses and.

And. And staffs and make sure everybody's good and for everyone to. To.

To take the time to come and do this, this is special. So, you know,

we definitely want to share that with this area. You know, get all of northwest

Arkansas involved in this thing and just make it as big as we can to

have the biggest impact. So, so give us the list of names of chefs

that will be here from out of town. Okay, so out of town,

we've got Ted Sisma coming in from California.

We've got Vinnie Simono out of Ohio. We have

Joe Flam coming out of Chicago. Rebecca Massen coming out of

Texas. And then we added Lambert Givens coming out of

Boston. Oh, all right.

I like that. Great crew, though. Yeah, yeah. What do you think that

says about northwest Arkansas and

about this? Cause that chefs at that

level are willing to make the trip here?

I will say this. I think I've been fortunate to get to know a lot

of these chefs through Token Hungary, some organizations like this, where it's. You

start getting to know these. These. These chefs, these people, and you hear

a lot about this area, to be honest with you, and you're seeing more of

those names pop up, being involved with things in northwest Arkansas and

Arkansas as a whole. I think that people do know that there is a need

here. You know, we leave the country in food insecurity.

So you. You see a lot of times when they're going to the Capitol and

they're. You know, they pulled myself, Chef Micah Klasky, up in Bentonville, they pulled us

up to DC Last year just to talk to some of our representatives

and see, you know, what we could do to try to mitigate some of the

issues here with food insecurity in our state. And it's. It's. It's

an issue. But you have a lot of those chefs that, again,

know about what's going on in Arkansas. You know, it's. It's a. It's a

growing market. It's a. It's an area that you're

hearing about more because stuff like this is happening, you know,

and. And it's cool to see the amount of people coming together

to make that stuff happen here. You know, that's not like. It's not like a,

oh, I'm just doing this dinner. It's. And it's. It's. There's an army of people

trying to make these things happen, to have an actual change

here. So, yeah, it gets traction. I mean, again, I said

it earlier but last, and I want to. I want to applaud you. Last year's

event raised just under $18,000 with. With only

70. 76. And I'm saying only 76 people in attendance, because we

want to blow that number out of the water this year. Sure. Okay. This year,

you're going for $50,000 with 200 seats.

That's a massive leap in ambition. I want. I'd love for you

just to walk me and our audience through what it takes to scale

something like this logistically,

organizationally, and actually, more importantly,

emotionally. It's obviously a challenge. Right.

I've made that pretty clear. I've had to pull as many people into this thing

as I can. I feel super fortunate to have been linked up with you.

And it's been kind of that story with this whole thing is, how many

people can I get involved? And,

you know, it's something. It's a passion project for myself, but I feel like the

more you talk about it and the more people you talk to about something like

this, it becomes a passion project for other people. And that's what makes

this possible. Right. It's just getting as many people involved as we can

to bring it together. So logistically, it's

come together very slowly. It's been a grind. But, you know, to get all

the chefs on, the chefs have been incredible. Just willing with their

time, with their resources. And what I've asked everyone to do is not

easy. You know, it would have been way easier to say, I'm

going to give you a second course. You're going to do a hot appetizer. Let

me know what you're thinking. We'll get the food together. That's one thing, right?

To say you're going to be on a team with four chefs, you know,

four chefs total. Now all of you have to figure this stuff out.

So we've been navigating that, and

everyone's just been playing it very. It's been easier than it probably should

be, you know, for me to get it all together, just because everyone's been

so willing to just play. Play the role. And. And we all just make sure

that it goes smoothly. And. Yeah, so it's. It's.

Logistically, you know, it's got some curveballs in there, but it's been

pretty good. So. Yeah, I know. And you mentioned a couple of the names

of local chefs. I think you said Marty Schmidt, maybe Jeff. Marty's

been on this podcast as Jason Paul, coming back for a second round. Jason

Paul was on. He's going to be out of town for that night. So we

got some other people in. So same crew. We got Will Monk, we've got that

crew. We've got Elliot Hunt over at Atlas. We've

got Hayne Begley out of. He's up in Bentonville doing some

of that crew. Rob Nelson, some of those guys. I think it's definitely going

to be worthwhile. I want to kind of unpack this part of it, because

this is. This is the real crux of the matter, right? When

we. We are in a time and a place where, let's just be

honest, gas is expensive. There's a lot of things going on in the world

when people sit down at a $250 per plate

dinner. That's fundamentally about feeding children who

don't have enough to eat. Obviously there's a kind of. And

as. And the words I came up with was a beautiful tension in

that. Right, sure. That's a nice way to put it. How do

you hold both of those realities at the

same time when trying to pull this event off? It's tough,

right? It's tough. And, and like we were talking about the other day,

there's probably more going on now than there was when we initially set

out to do this. But what I come back to is,

you know, and this is Ted Sisma, who's coming to the dinner. He talks

about this. He always makes it as simple as possible. He's like, you know, when

I'm going to bed at night, the thought of kids going to

bed hungry bothers me, you know, and it's

a, and it's a problem. So to know that there are kids that are going

to bed every night hungry, they're not getting the rest they need. They're going to

school. They're, they're, they're not nursed to a point

where they can succeed in school. You know,

you're, you're, you're off to a pretty rough start, and it's, it's going to be

hard, you know, and that's something that we can, we

can come together and fix. You know, it's a fixable problem. It's not a

lack of food problem. You know, our country has an

abundance of food. It's getting that food to the people that

need it. And that's the programs, you know, that's like, is that, is that a

steep ticket price? Is that a difficult sell?

Potentially, of course. And I mean, I, I feel the economy

and how tight things are as much as anybody also, you know, but that being

said, to make some sacrifices to make a big change and make a

difference that we're able to make, you know, I'm willing to take that risk

and see, see if we can make it work. Right. So I think that there

are other people out there that feel the same way. So. Yeah. What do they

say? No, risk it. No biscuit, right? That's right. So you gotta

risk it for the biscuits. So. Okay. Well, we, we certainly are going to

encourage all of our listeners to that those that are in a position to participate.

To participate. There'll be a number of ways to

serve the needs of children that are food

insecure. And for some people that can't actually

go to this event. You told me that they could still give to the program.

Sure. So, yeah. So we'll. And we'll make sure we put all that information

in the show notes. But is there a website for this event?

Yes. So we're actually doing this for Chef Cycle,

which is an event put on through. No. Get hungry, Share our strength.

And it's essentially every year, they go out, they ride, doing 200 miles. So I'll

be going in June to ride 200 miles out in Oregon to raise

awareness as much as raising funds. Right. So it's kind of like, what are these

guys, these. These lunatics doing riding 200 miles in a couple days?

But it also brings awareness. Right. So we'll be doing that.

I'll pull this up pretty soon. And I'll get this wrong.

I just want to make sure people know that there are multiple on ramps

to the mission beyond just buying a ticket. So for sure. And

this is. If you were to just look up Chef Cycle 2026, you'll find

the page. You can donate straight to just their main

cause on that page. You know, we've got a goal as a group of raising

a million dollars. We're already over half of that. Wow.

So by the time we get some of these dinners done, I saw yesterday,

there's a group, they go by the wheels of time. They're spelled T,

H Y M E. You know, Little Chef nodded. Sure. They're

doing a 20 chef plus, you know, eight course dinner. They're. They're even

more ambitious than us, more than likely, you know, but it's. Yeah. There's

multiple events like this going on around the country for this. This

main Chef cycle event, Dentonville at the Hive, they just

had a very successful dinner. They've raised over $80,000 this year.

Wow. Which is incredible. So super proud of those guys.

And it's just. We're all just trying to do our part. Right. We're all just

trying to. To do as much as we can collectively

to have the biggest footprint possible here. Northwest Arkansas is. People

want to support other people, whether they do it with their time,

their talent, or the money that they have at their

disposal. And so I encourage people to try to get

involved. Now, if this ride that you're taking in June,

is that the type of ride where you're looking for sponsors, or can people

pay per mile as you go, or how does that work? If you were to

go to my page, you could say, you know, I'm going to donate X amount

per mile written, you know, and then. And you could just donate that amount,

obviously everything through their website is, it's a tax write off. There's all

the benefits to the, to the sponsors and the donors, but there's also,

you know, end of the day, we're just trying to feed kids. So it's. Yeah,

we still have room for sponsorship with our dinner. We still have room for sponsorship

just for this kind of season, if you will. Sure. But

yeah, there's still plenty of windows to get involved. They every little bit counts.

You know, we talked about, it's, it's five bucks, it's ten bucks, it doesn't matter

as long as we're, as long as we're chipping away at an issue

here. Yeah, well, and I want to be clear for everybody involved that

everybody that's listening to this, it doesn't end on April 26th.

April 26th is one date on the horizon that will

give you an opportunity to, to, to be involved, but it doesn't

end at that date. So I want to wrap up just asking you this question.

Beyond this event, what's the bigger vision? What does

food equity, making sure every person in

northwest Arkansas and especially every child has enough to eat. What

does that look like in practice?

You know, I, as far as

my perspective, kind of things that have changed for me as I've gotten older and

this, not to sound like morbid, but you know, this is a pretty

short ride that we're on. Right. It's not like this is not a, you know

what I mean? And it's, I'm not getting younger and I know

that at the end, at the end of my

time here, I want to know that we were able to help other people

make impacts. So what does that look like? I think we're just going to keep

trying to find windows. You know, I'm incredibly fortunate to

work with an organization like no Get Hungry because they are just

constantly giving you outlets to do

those things right. And it's big to me to take those

opportunities. You know, whatever platform we have here at Gaskins, we

want to use it to do the most we can for the community. So,

you know, as, as, as the years go on, hopefully that platform gets, gets

bigger and bigger so that we can, we can do more and more. And I

can only hope that some, somehow I can plan a seed with some younger cook

coming up so that this just keeps going and we just keep the trend of,

you know, let's be good people, let's take care of other people. You know,

I firmly believe that we're here to love each other. Take care of

each other. And that's, that's the goal, that's the mission. I think we just keep

pushing for it. Yeah, I think of people like him and

Jeremy Gothrop and others that have like

lit a fire under young chefs. And one of my, one of my

good friends is Chef Nate Walls. And, and I mean, Jeremy

has been a tremendous mentor for him. And I mean, Nate's literally

single handedly trying to feed all of Northwest Arkansas. Right. I

mean, I mean, he should just wear a T shirt that says no

kid left behind when it comes to eating a meal. Because I've been out with

him and he was just at an event the other day with the Fayetteville Public

Library where I work, and they were feet. They had a block party and they

fed a couple hundred people. It doesn't seem like much,

but. But it is and it does make a difference. Right? I mean,

Nate knows guys. I just, I just, he just posted, reposted

us talking about this d yesterday. You know, I love Nate. I love

Jeremy also. I just got off the phone with him the other day talking about

ways to benefit the community and, and, and you just have a lot

of people with, with hearts in the right place, you know, and it's, and it's

good to be around those people. It's like you always talk about, you know, you

asked early on just about this, this industry and kind of how

we get into it and all that. And you talk about finding your people like

those, those are, I think all of us in that, you know, we kind of

found our people and this is it. You know, it's. Try to make a difference,

try to get more people involved and, and that's, that's what it's about.

I mean, I, I think more for me personally as I

got involved with Ozark natural foods and I understood

the concept of what real good food means to

individuals and that everybody should have access to it, not

just people that can afford it. It just opened my eyes that

there's so much more that we can be doing in our local communities to make

sure that especially children, we got to start with them. Because if, I mean,

there's so many studies that show that if kids don't have a full stomach when

they get to school, if they don't get food in their stomach, it's hard for

them to focus and concentrate. These little things can go a

long way in ensuring that the next generation and then the generation

after that is equipped to take on what needs to

be, what needs to be done in our Society. So thank you so

much for the hard work that you're doing. And remind us again

of a website that people can go to if they want to book, book a

ticket for this event on the 26th of April.

Absolutely. So we have a link if you go through our socials. I'll tell you

this, it's a little, we're trying to navigate this thing and make it easier.

We plastering this out on Instagram, on, on Facebook

and I will put it out in the show notes. So go to the show

notes whether you're looking at it on your podcast device of

choice or you're on our website@im northwest

arkansas.com when you go to this particular episode, you'll see all the

information there on how you can get involved, how you can buy a ticket. And

worst case scenario, you can email

me@helloamnortharkansas.com and I'll make sure

I put you directly in touch with, with Chef Sam so that you can support

his efforts and what we're doing to make sure that we, we leave

no child left behind. Appreciate that. So, but, and I said

left behind, but I mean no, no kid hunger. You got it. Chef Sam Walker,

thank you for everything you poured into this conversation and

more importantly, for everything you're pouring into this community through your

cooking, your leadership and your commitment to making sure

no child in Northwest Arkansas goes hungry. What I take

away from this conversation personally is that something I think about

a lot when I talk to people doing work like this. The table

has always been more than a place to eat. It's where

we tell our stories, where we welcome strangers, where we

decide what kind of community we want to be.

And they've been doing a study lately about longevity and what

it takes. And it's not a pill, it's

not a certain type of food. The one sure

fire way to ensure that you, you have longevity

is to have community, right? When people know that you

care. I mean, some guy stopped me today earlier in the library, just said,

hey, you look like somebody I need to meet. And he just introduced himself out

of the blue. And I shook his hand and I smiled and I introduced myself

and he told me his name. So many people walk around on a daily

basis feeling unseen. I really want to encourage

folks that you are seen, you need to be seen. And that especially

programs like this make a big difference and put everybody on

the radar that they do matter. The chef's night for no Kid

Hungry happens on April 26 at the Jones center in

Springdale. Five courses, 20

chefs, 200 seats. A goal of

$50,000 for Share Our Strengths no kid

hungry campaign if you want to be a part of it. Whether

you grab a ticket, make a donation or simply

share this episode with someone who needs to hear it, you'll find

the links in the show notes. Chef Sam Walker, thank you so

much man for, for doing this and man, I'm going to do all I can

in the next several days after this episode comes out to

spread the word and to let folks know about this because we're going to get

you. We're going to get to that $50,000. Randy, I appreciate you. Brad, thank you

so much for doing this and for playing a part, man, I always appreciate it.

Well, listen folks, I hope you enjoyed this episode of I Am Northwest

Arkansas. That's all we have for today and I will see

you next time with another brand new episode of

I Am Northwest Arkansas. Peace.