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$1 million to be divided amongst nationwide hunger relief agencies

SPRINGFIELD, Mo.— Ozarks Food Harvest will participate in the 12^th Annual Feinstein Challenge, March 1 – April 30, for a piece of the $1 million pie given away nationwide by philanthropist Shawn Alan Feinstein of the Feinstein Foundation.

The Food Bank is calling out to all donors and supporters to make a special contribution during the two month challenge period.  Every pound of food or dollar donated to Ozarks Food Harvest will count towards the challenge.  The more donations received, the more Feinstein money is granted to The Food Bank.

“This is a typically low giving time of the year,” states Denise Gibson, Director of Development, “so the Feinstein Challenge is an excellent opportunity to challenge our community to step forward and help at a critical time when we simply cannot allow our neighbors to go hungry.”

This is the eighth year The Food Bank has participated in the Challenge.  With the help of the community, last year’s challenge brought more than $1,100 to Ozarks Food Harvest.  The Food Bank hopes to bring in more challenge funding this year; as distribution costs have doubled from the growing number of agencies that receive food by delivery.

Feinstein’s past $1 million challenges to fight hunger have raised a record $940 million for agencies nationwide.  Learn more about the 12^th Annual Feinstein Challenge at the Foundation’s Web site.

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About Ozarks Food Harvest—The Food Bank
Ozarks Food Harvest distributes more than 5 million pounds of food annually to a network of more than 350 hunger relief organizations; serving more than 41,000 individuals each month.  The Food Bank offers direct relief through its Mobile Food Pantry™ program, Kids Cafe® after-school feeding program, Weekend Backpack Program™ and its Club F.U.N.® children’s health and nutrition classes.  This year Ozarks Food Harvest celebrates 25 years of Transforming Hunger Into Hope™ to the 29 counties in its service area.