Mass Communications students at UALR are putting their knowledge of social media to work with a class project that is helping promote the Arkansas Foodbank.

Undergraduate and graduate students in Assistant Professor Amy Barnes’ public relations class are using social media to establish and maintain positive interactions between the Foodbank and online communities.

Barnes designed the project to help her students cultivate those skills while serving the local community. The students are divided into three teams of four. Two teams manage the Foodbank’s Twitter and Facebook accounts. The third team created and manages a blog for the Foodbank on WordPress.com. Students tweet and post information to promote hunger awareness and Foodbank programs, events, and volunteer opportunities.

According to the 2009 Digital Readiness Report, social networking, blogging, and micro-blogging skills are the three most important social media communications skills for public relations job candidates to have. The report was conducted with support from the Public Relations Society of America and other professional organizations.

Student team leaders work directly with two Foodbank executives, Marketing and Public Relations Director Ray White and Outreach Coordinator Kathy Kaigler.

“We are so pleased with the level of creativity and progress demonstrated by the teams, and we’ve received nothing but positive feedback from Feeding America,” White said.

So far, the Foodbank’s Twitter following has increased by 10 percent, visits to its Facebook page have increased by 59 percent, and its blog on WordPress.com has had 517 views.

The project will continue throughout the fall semester. Follow the project @arfoodbank on Twitter, “like” the Arkansas Foodbank Network on Facebook, and subscribe to the Arkansas Foodbank blog.

The Arkansas Foodbank — a member of Feeding America, the nation’s largest domestic hunger relief food bank network — has been fighting hunger in central and southern Arkansas for 27 years by acquiring and distributing food through local partnerships.

Arkansas Foodbank representatives took donations at the inaugural Arkansas Cornbread Festival on Saturday, Nov. 5, and on Monday, Nov. 7, the Foodbank began partnering with Crain Media to host a radio drive to collect food and money donations. Participating radio stations include Mix 106.3, KHITS 96.5, My Country Y107.1, and Big Rock 93.3.