Outstanding Volunteer Youth Fundraiser
By Renarda A. Williams | Photography by Rett Peek | Hair by Thunder Crump with Face Your Day Salon | Makeup by Ashlee Butler with Face Your Day Salon | Wardrobe from Emerge
She’s only 15 years old and a sophomore at Mount St. Mary Academy, yet Anne Marie Coy’s civic leadership has already impacted countless hungry Arkansas children, families and seniors. As an ardent advocate and fundraiser for the Arkansas Foodbank, she created the Change for Change Campaign – collecting change during the month of February to benefit the Arkansas Foodbank.
Anne Marie designed a campaign logo, made the collection cans, contacted churches and other organizations as potential distribution points, and scheduled speaking engagements to promote the initiative. With help from her family, she also organized a change “count-a-thon.” Volunteers counted and tallied the money collected, raising more than $4,000 – providing more than 22,000 meals for hungry Arkansans.
In addition, Anne Marie volunteered with the Arkansas Foodbank Summer Cereal Drive. Instead of a summer vacation, she spent the month of June collecting cereal for hungry Arkansas children in communities in Central and South Arkansas. Through encouragement and support from the community, more than 1,000 boxes of cereal were contributed to the Summer Cereal Drive.
Anne Marie was introduced to the Arkansas Foodbank through a field trip and visit. She was impressed with the organization’s mission fulfillment work and combatting food insecurity became her passion. Her commitment to the Arkansas Foodbank and Change for Change Campaign continues as she welcomes new opportunities and ways to improve the lives of all Arkansans. Anne Marie took a simple idea – collecting change – and became a valuable change agent in her community.