Our Mission Statement

The M&N Augustine Foundation for Human Development, Inc. is a client-centered, non-bureaucratic, result-oriented organization which exists to elevate downtrodden humanity through educational, financial, and social means.

This is just a fancy way of saying that we exist to help people and we are looking for like-minded individuals and organizations to join us in addressing hunger and poverty. We know it's impossible to eliminate hunger and poverty but we can make a difference for our neighbors, one life at a time. More importantly, you can make a difference and we can show you how.

 

Caring Kitchen

We feed veterans, elderly, homeless and the lonely every Tuesday, a delicious home-cooked meal, prepared fresh in our kitchen.

Annual easter Feed

With the help of our volunteers we feed over 6000 of our veteran, homeless, elderly and shut-in neighbors.

International Festival

People from all over the world call Northwest Arkansas home. Our International Festival is a chance experience new flavors, cultures and celebrate the diversity of our community.


M&N Augustine Foundation Easter Feed

The Annual M&N Augustine Foundation Easter feed is the centerpiece of our calendar. Every year, the Saturday before Easter we feed over 6,000 meals with the help of our dedicated volunteers and donations from individuals and local businesses.


Help Us Feed Over 6,000 

Downloadable 2024 Easter Feed Flyer

29o Folleto Comida Anual de Pascua

We’re excited to host our M&N Augustine Foundation’s Annual Trent Trumbo Easter Feed again. You, your family or your organization can help! The format will be the same as our last Thanksgiving meal. It will be a "Pick n Go" style.

Meals will be available Saturday March 30th, 2024 from 11:00 am to 2:00 pm at the following locations:

M&N Augustine Foundation,
503 E 15th St
Fayetteville, AR 72701

Caudle Avenue Baptist Church
404 Caudle Ave.
Springdale, AR 72764

Use the links below if you, your family, or your organization is interested in volunteering and making an important impact to our community this Easter.

Volunteers Needed:

Volunteer during Easter Feed Prep Week:

Sign-up here if you are interested in volunteering to help prepare for the Easter Feed in the days leading up to the event.

Volunteer for Easter Feed:

Sign-up here if you are interested in volunteering for the Easter Feed.

Contact Information:
Joe Augustine 479-236-3800
Beverly Augustine 479-236-8200
Pam Miller 479-200-0993


Getting Ready for Easter Feed ‘23

The Easter Feed began nearly 20 years ago. It was the vision of the Augustine family to give back during the Easter season. It grew over the years and was the reason the M&N Augustine Foundation was created. The founder, Merlin Augustine, wanted the Feed to grow beyond an Augustine family event to a community event. The Foundation was started to help the Easter Feed to grow into what it is today.

We invite you to be a part of the Easter Feed. You and your family can volunteer or you or your organization can make a tax-deductible donation to make sure no one goes hungry during the Easter season.

Past Easter Feeds

M&N Augustine Foundation Has Been Selected to Participate in Arvest's 1 Million Meals

April is 1 Million Meals Season and we're proud to announce that The M&N Augustine Foundation has been chosen by Arvest Bank to receive meals collected during their 2023 1 Million Meals program. We celebrate Arvest's commitment to our community and this program that helps families who are food insecure.

We invite you to participate and help Arvest collect at least 1 million meals to help feed our neighbors here in Fayetteville and all around our area.

You can find out more about how to participate at their website.

Dear Friends and Family of the M&N Augustine Foundation,

We have many things to be Thankful for this Holiday Season.  One of those is each and everyone of you!

Thank you for your generosity!

When we opened our Caring Kitchen in 2016, we served about 100 meals per week.  Each year we have grown our Caring Kitchen, and now we are serving upwards of 250 meals per week!  This truly is the work of the Lord.  He has been very good to us, and we could not have done it without your support!

Our goal for 2023 is to increase the number of meals we serve to those in need by 20% with a goal of 300 meals.  We are working with our team to develop a plan on how we can get more meals into the hands of those who are in the most need.  Fayetteville has a homeless population that continues to grow.  By increasing the number of meals we are serving we hope to help those in most need by having a warm home-cooked meal.

As we approach the end of the year and celebrate Giving Tuesday 2022, we reach out to our Friends and Family for your support to help us reach our goal.  Together, we can "Make A Change"!  Please consider sending a tax-deductible donation to the M&N Augustine Foundation today!  We have options for you to make a donation.

Donations can be made electronically by clicking here: Donate

November 16th, 1992: A Very Special Day

November 16th, 2022 marks the 30th Anniversary of the M&N (Merlin & Nora) Augustine Foundation. On this special occasion, I feel that I should give you a little history of how and why the foundation was established. I would also like to give you an update on the many accomplishments of the Foundation that would not have been possible without the support of each and everyone of you.

November 12, 1992 was a significant day, because it marked the 62nd Wedding Anniversary of my dear parents Merlin and Nora. While both of them were living in a nursing home and suffering from dementia, I believe that it was through the mercy of God that they were able to comprehend what we had set out to do. My father and mother always believed that loving thy neighbor or helping anyone in need was among the prime requirements of Jesus, when he spoke about what it meant to be a Christian. Growing up I did not understand why mom and daddy insisted on helping so many people when we had so very little. My father was a janitor and earned about $150 per month, yet he was able to find a way to send all five of his children to college. One of my sisters is a nun and attended St. Mary’s Academy which is often referred to as the “Notre Dame” of Louisiana. My parents truly led by example. They were the perfect example of what it meant to be a Christian. It is in their honor that we established the M&N Augustine Foundation thirty years ago.

Over the course of the past thirty years, together we have been able to accomplish some amazing things. There have been thousands of individuals who have volunteered by giving of their prayers, time, talent, and/or treasure. Many of these individuals are no longer with us, but their presence is keenly felt as we move forward and help just as my mother and father did. While we do not seek recognition or a “pat-on-the-back”, our organization has received 22 Distinguished Awards. Those awards include but are not limited to: Fayetteville Helping Hands Award, The Office of the Governor's Volunteer Service Award, The Chamber of Commerce Award, JCPenny’s Golden Neighbor Award, and Wal-Mart's Distinguished Visionary Award. One thing that we make clear, we are not doing this great work to receive any recognition or award. I believe that our volunteers are the ones who should receive the awards, you are truly the hands that make our organization so successful. A day does not go by that I do not feel that my mother and father are still leading the foundation. I am simply the instrument that carries out their values.

Through the many challenges that we have faced including COVID 19, we have never closed our doors. Our Caring Kitchen has been open and we prepare over 250 meals per week. We have moved to a “Pick and Go” style of meal pick-up. This system has allowed us to continue to serve food to those in greatest need, while keeping you “our volunteers” safe. We look forward to when we are able to gather again around the table. It is with your support that we are able to continue to spread love and help our neighbors, just as my mother and father taught me so many years ago.

As we ponder our 30th anniversary and what we have accomplished together, the poetic words of Father Smith, a Catholic Priest and one of my favorite teachers who often quoted this poem to me and many other young men: History faithfully replicates what poets have always known. Life is brief but indelible success and failure are imposters and those who find true meaning in their lives do so with their heads, their hearts, and their hands to create that special moment when one human being serves another. 

As we reflect on our 30 years of service, just think about those “special moments” that we have created together, where human beings serve another. It is through the generosity of our volunteers that we have created millions of special moments. Whether this be at our Annual Easter Feed, One-on-One Counseling, our Caring Kitchen, or by the financial assistance a family needed to bury their loved ones. We have answered the prayers of many for 30 years by creating special moments.

The Foundation will continue to honor Merlin and Nora Augustine, my precious parents for at least the next 100 years and create many many more “special moments”. 

We thank you for the devotion each and everyone of you bring. All that we have accomplished would not have been possible without your generous and kind hearts. As we approach the Thanksgiving Season, from the bottom of our hearts, I want to Thank You for walking on this very special journey with me and my family. May each of us be especially blessed for truly living Jesus truest challenge to humanity “to love our neighbors, as we do ourselves”.

God bless,

Merlin J. Augustine. Jr.

 Support the M&N Augustine Foundation When You Shop

Remember smile.amazon.com

Now, when you shop Amazon, you can also support the M&N Augustine Foundation. Click the image above. It will take you to smile.amazon.com. Log-in and when it asks, make M&N Augustine Foundation the charity that you support. Now, every time you shop go to smile.amazon.com, Amazon will donate a portion of your purchases to us. All you have to do is remember to always use smile.amazon.com when you navigate to their site.

There’s No Extra Cost

The price you pay for products at Amazon will stay the same but a small percentage of your purchase price will be donated by Amazon on your behalf to the M&N Augustine Foundation.

Remember the Special Web Address

To support us with your purchases you must remember to always use smile.amazon.com. After the first time you go to that address and set up M&N Augustine Foundation as your charity, Amazon will remember and always make a donation on your behalf. Always remember to put a smile before amazon.com. Bookmark the page to help you remember.

Thank You For Your Gifts

This is a simple, pain-free way to make a difference in the lives of people right here in our community. Thank you for all you do for the M&N Augustine Foundation! God bless you.

 

K&K Veterinary Supply Cookbook Fundraiser

The good people of K&K Veterinary Supply, in coordination with the volunteers of the M&N Augustine Foundation have put together a cookbook, that includes over 400 quality recipes.  The cookbooks are $10 and are here just in time for Christmas.  The proceeds of the cookbook will be donated to the M&N Augustine Foundation, to assist us in our shared mission of making a difference, in the lives of others.  

Please contact Merlin Augustine (479) 750-4793 or Joe Augustine (479) 236-3800 or email: mnaugustinefoundation@yahoo.com, to get yours today!!!

 

Board of Directors

 

Current Board
Members

  • Dr. Merlin J. Augustine, Jr. Ed.D
  • Mrs. Beverly Augustine
  • Mr. Merlin J. Augustine, III
  • Dr. Mark Bonner, M.D.
  • Dr. Scott Cooper, M.D.
  • Coach Norm DeBriyn
  • Mr. Randy DeCuir
  • Dr. Michael Knight, D.V.M.
  • Mrs. Nancy R. Qualls
  • Mr. John Singh

Director of Endowment

  • Mrs. Amber Trumbo Gaskill

Perpetual Board
Members

  • Mr. Merlin J. Augustine, Sr.
  • Mrs. Nora Mayeaux Augustine
  • Mr. Trent Trumbo
  • Mr. Roland S. Boreham, Jr.
  • Dr. Charles Springer, Ph.D
  • Mr. Kenneth McKee
  • Mr. James Kinnally
  • Chief Larry Slamons

Honorary Board Member

  • Sister M. Concetta Augustine
 
 

Why We Started the Foundation

The M & N Augustine Foundation was founded on November 16, 1992, Marksville, Louisiana, on the 62nd Wedding Anniversary of the late Merlin and Nora Augustine, Sr. The Foundation was established as an expression of appreciation to my parents who in my early years were extremely kind, gentle and compassionate to all who came to them for assistance. During that time there were no social programs as we know them today. I did not fully understand why my parents would ask me to give up my bed to someone else to inhabit it, or why we would share our meager resources with so many other individuals.

- Dr. Merlin J Augustine, Jr.

 

 

Honors, Awards and Recognition

 
  • Corporate Helping Hand Award
  • Distinguished Humanitarian Service Award
  • Distinguished Volunteer Award
  • Geraldine Walker Award
  • Most Generous Heart Award
  • Youth Citizenship Award

Special Awards Given to the Foundation

  • Torchbearer Award for Exemplary Community Service, Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, March 2004
  • Cited in Congressional Records September 10, 2003 by the Honorable John Boozman 10th Congress first session
  • Martin Luther King Jr. Community Service Award for Excellence in Community Service, January 2003
  • J.C. Penney Golden Rule Award for Spirit of Volunteerism, 2000
  • J.C. Penney Eagle Award for Distinguished Community Service, 1996
  • City of Fayetteville Community Helping Hand Award, 1993
  • Office of Governor State of Arkansas, Office of Volunteerism, Outstanding Community Service 1992