Today the Arkansas Community Foundation is rallying Arkansans, who are traditionally pretty charitable anyways, to commit the day to giving extra to nonprofits who do good work right here in our state.

ArkansasGives is a 12-hour online fundraising event happening today from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Arkansas Community Foundation is challenging all Arkansans to make a donation to their favorite charity on a single day, and they are adding bonus dollars and prizes on top of the money that comes in from the public. More than 350 nonprofits are participating, and they’re all driving their donors to give via ArkansasGives.org, where the ACF will be tallying the donations in real-time and posting them on leaderboards.

So, what does this have to do with food? Well, for one, many food-related charities are benefiting. My favorite, the Arkansas Hunger Relief Alliance, manages all the No Kid Hungry / Cooking Matters programs in the state, of which I have taught more than a few. Whichever food-related charity you’re drawn to, today is a great day to ensure their operations.

Need more motivation? How about food trucks?

The ArkansasGives event headquarters are at AT&T’s building at 1111 W. Capital, and they have given permission to have four food trucks set up out front during lunch (11 – 1:30). Each of the trucks has chosen a participating ArkansasGives charity they will support with 10% of their proceeds from the day.

Participating trucks will include Southern Salt, Loblolly Ice Cream, Hot Rod Wieners and Katmandu Momo.

So, donate, rally supporters of your favorite charity, and come on out for a lunch that gives!