Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Food drive branches to Southwest Arkansas

A food drive program, to keep the shelves full for churches and other non-profit givers of the community, had its first load delivered from California Tuesday on 2nd Street in Gurdon.

The semi-truck, full of nonperishable canned goods, diapers and other "necessity" supplies for the survival of the struggling, came to the old Food Store mall area on Sept. 14. The program, the Fountain of Hope in Lincoln Heights, California, is being localized by Daryl Potratz and his grandson, Matthew Lynch, both of Gurdon. The load also includes: cups, paper plates, glasses and more.

It is being gathered through Matthew Lynch's uncle, Martin Potratz, of Los Angeles. Fountain of Hope is based in Los Angeles.

Martin Potratz, son of Daryl Potratz, is a licensed minister. Feeding the hungry, his dad said, has been Martin's mission. The son started feeding the hungry in Los Angeles back in 1996.

"He started out with fruits and vegetables," the senior Potratz said. "Fountain of Hope is nationally recognized and has fed people in other countries, as well as the homeless in Watts around LA. This mission to Southwest Arkansas is the first branch in the United States."

The Gurdon supplies will go to churches and other non-profit organizations. "They can give donations," Lynch said.

Potratz said it is the first load of a soup kitchen type supply program. The frequency of future loads depends a lot on donation factors. The building by Food Store is being used for storage of the supplies.

"We are the Arkansas distributors of the Fountain of Hope," Potratz said. "It is our intention to be the food bank and soup kitchen supplier for Southwest Arkansas. We intend to distribute to churches and any 501C non-profit organization. Our expenses are met by donations from such things as church bazaars."

Potratz said he is very new at this sort of thing, but is planning an open house within a month or less. He wants to wait on a second truckload to arrive first. The open house should give those he serves a chance to ask questions and get familiar with the help-oriented program.