LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – Statistics from the United States Department of Agriculture state that Arkansas is first in the country for having the highest percentage of residents facing food insecurity.

This year places that rely on food donations to feed those who are in need said they have never seen numbers so low, this close to the Thanksgiving holiday.

The Little Rock Compassion Center said that right now, they have 12 turkeys in their freezer, and Thanksgiving is 10 days away.

“Last year we served 120 turkeys during the Thanksgiving holiday,” Little Rock Compassion Center CEO William Holloway said. “It has us start to worry what might happen when Thanksgiving gets here because if we don’t have the turkeys then that means somebody is going to go hungry.”

Marcus Speck has relied on meals daily at the compassion center for years, especially on holidays like Thanksgiving.

“It’s a blessing in and of itself, nothing is worse than not having a meal that day,” Speck said.

“We can take one turkey and feed 20 people, but we could feed up to 1,000 on Thanksgiving day, and then we have three more days to go,” Mark Hughes, who cooks at the Compassion Center, said.

Speck said when people donate to the compassion center, “it’s going to be something that gives people a sense of comfort to at least know that somebody cares about them”.

Those interested in donating can go to the Little Rock Compassion Center website.