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20th Annual Hungerthon Raises $140,168 for Weekend Backpack Program

20th Annual Hungerthon Raises $140,168 for Weekend Backpack Program

September 27, 2018 in Food Bank News

In September, The Food Bank and iHeartMedia’s 105.9 KGBX were joined by community members and local businesses to raise funds for Ozarks Food Harvest’s Weekend Backpack Program. The 20th annual Hungerthon collected $140,168, which will provide 467 hungry children with nutritious meals for every weekend of the school year.

The entire program provides more than 1,600 food insecure children across the Ozarks with food bags each Friday throughout the school year. Each food bag contains six nutritious easy-open meals for children that might otherwise go hungry.

“Our partnership with Kevin and Liz throughout the past 20 years has allowed us to make an incredible impact in the community,” said Bart Brown, Ozarks Food Harvest’s president/CEO. “We are so thankful for their passion to fight hunger and for all of the community members who have donated to help hungry kids.”

Kevin Howard and Liz Delany of 105.9 KGBX hosted the radio-thon, spending 30 hours on the air over the course of four days to help raise money for The Food Bank. Special thanks to our sponsors Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield, Associated Electric Cooperative, Inc., CoxHealth, Harter House, Heart of America Beverage Company, MassMutual, The Musgrave Foundation, Peck Insurance & Financial Services, Inc., Ron & Janice Penney and Yahweh’s Place at Cedarville.

“It always feels great after Hungerthon to know that we, along with listeners of KGBX and supporters of Ozarks Food Harvest, have made a big difference in the Ozarks,” said Kevin Howard of The Kevin and Liz Show. “We now know that 467 kids that were on the waiting list are going to be taken care of in the coming school year.”

Fifty-nine schools across 16 counties in southwest Missouri participate in the Weekend Backpack Program, which distributes 58,000 food bags annually. At-risk students are identified by teachers and counselors, who interact with the children daily, to participate in the program.

Since 1999, hunger heroes have donated more than $1.9 million through Hungerthon.