Give & Gain: The Win-Win of Giving

When most people think about charitable giving, they think about making a financial contribution. However, gifts of products and services—known as in-kind donations—can have an equally powerful impact.

For Samaritan Community Center, in-kind donations are essential to fulfilling our mission. Donations of food, personal care items, household goods, clothing, and other products help us meet immediate needs while reducing operating costs. In addition, donating items that can be sold through our Samaritan Shops helps to generate approximately 40% of the funding needed to support our programs and services.

Each year, thousands of families rely on our Markets for food and personal care items. Some of our greatest ongoing needs include breakfast foods, rice, beans, pasta, shampoo, deodorant, toothpaste, bath soap, and feminine hygiene products. These items are often provided through generous donations from businesses, churches, schools, community groups, and individual supporters.

Many people are surprised to learn that some of our most-needed items are also among the simplest. Plastic grocery bags are used throughout our organization for SnackPacks for Kids, our Markets, and our Samaritan Shops. Together, these programs use more than 800,000 bags each year, representing a significant expense that can be reduced through donations.

We also welcome donations of paper products used daily across our facilities, including commercial toilet paper, paper towels, and large trash liners. These practical gifts help us direct more of our resources toward serving families in need.

Every in-kind gift—whether a truckload of food, a box of hygiene items, leftover vendor supply inventory, or a box of grocery ("t-shirt") bags—helps stretch donor dollars and expand our impact throughout Northwest Arkansas.

To learn more about making an in-kind donation, please contact Shannon Green at

479-636-4198 or sgreen@samcc.org.