25th Annual Hungerthon Raises $252,900 for Children Facing Hunger
The 25th annual Hungerthon was a success, raising $252,900, which will provide 703 children with nutritious meals and snacks every weekend of the school year!
From September 8-11, Ozarks Food Harvest and iHeartRadio Springfield teamed up with the community to hold one of our biggest annual fundraisers for the Weekend Backpack Program.
Listeners tuned in to Alice 95.5, US97, 100.5 The Wolf, and 105.9 KGBX to raise funds for the program. The Food Bank accepted donations by phone and online.
Event donations were matched by sponsors including A-1 Guarantee Roofing, AECI, BluCurrent Credit Union, Cox Health, Great Southern Bank, Harter House, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers #453, Kum & Go, McDonald’s, Peck’s Insurance and Financial Services, Positronic Industries, SRC Community Relations Committee, Stomp the Blues out of Homelessness, Watson Metal Masters Inc. and Yahweh’s Place at Cedarville. These generous matches allowed listeners to double their impact. Several local businesses also served as event sponsors including Air Services Heating and Cooling and Hy-Vee.
The Weekend Backpack Program was created to provide weekend meals for children in one rural community, but when word of the program’s benefits spread, other rural and even Springfield schools began asking for assistance. The need was much greater than anticipated, and Ozarks Food Harvest immediately increased fundraising efforts to meet the demand. The Weekend Backpack Program has now grown to serve 1,700 children across more than 60 schools in southwest Missouri.
Ozarks Food Harvest is grateful for every individual, foundation and business that contributed to Hungerthon. We couldn’t help children facing hunger without you.
If you missed us, you can still sponsor a child this school year by donating at ozarskfoodharvest.org/donate and selecting “Weekend Backpack Program” from the dropdown menu.