UAMS Physician Assistant Students Break Fundraising Records for Arkansas Food Bank
| Students from the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) Physician Assistant (PA) program celebrated a decade of service and another record-breaking year of fundraising for the Arkansas Food Bank during a Dec. 12 check presentation ceremony.
Organized by the Kelly-Rahn-Turnage (KRT) Fellowship of Physician Assistant Students, the annual Heroes Against Hunger 5K raised more than $15,000 this year. This contribution marks a significant milestone in the program’s history because the students have now raised more than $100,000 total for the Arkansas Food Bank’s Food for Kids program since the collaboration began.
Samantha Lawson, MPAS, PA-C, an assistant professor in the UAMS College of Health Professions Department of Physician Assistant Studies, praised the students for their dedication while balancing the rigors of medical education.
“Because this event is planned by a new group of students every year, each race day has its own personality,” she said. “Each race is like an original painting. Some are painted with oil paints, others with watercolors. Some are simplified expressions and others are vivid and busy, yet all express the same core meaning: teamwork, partnership and above all, community.”
Lawson said the $100,000 raised means the collective efforts have provided more than 500,000 meals to children, supported many families and helped strengthen communities far beyond UAMS.
The donation comes at a time when the Arkansas Food Bank is facing unprecedented demand. Claire Tiffin, director of community engagement for the Arkansas Food Bank, noted that recent economic instability and government disruptions have caused a sharp increase in food insecurity across the state.
“This year in particular has been a really hard year at the Arkansas Food Bank. With the federal government shutdown, we went from serving 280,000 Arkansans to 410,000 Arkansans within two weeks,” Tiffin said. “That was a jump that we were not prepared for, our partners were not prepared for, and we have had pantries that have been low on food and very low on hope.”
Tiffin said pantries saw a 60% spike in visitors immediately following recent disruptions — a surge even higher than numbers seen during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The success of the event relied heavily on the student leadership team, who managed the logistics while working full-time on clinical rotations and completing coursework. Lawson recognized several key students for their instrumental roles: Jada Mack, the fellowship’s secretary; Riley Klober, vice president; Kristen Sharp, external affairs representative; Payton Grice, treasurer; and Maggie Grappe, fellowship president.
“I have the honor of serving as the KRT President for the Physician Assistant Class of 2026. On behalf of our entire class, we want to thank everyone that is here today to support us and who supported us in our fundraising efforts for the Arkansas Food Bank,” Grappe said. “Continuing our partnership with the Arkansas Food Bank is a privilege the PA program gets to take every year.”
The $15,000 raised by this year’s class will provide about 75,000 meals for children in the community.