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Bringing hope to children during the holidays

Bringing hope to children during the holidays

December 12, 2019 in From Denise's Desk Harvest Time Newsletter

Many children in the Ozarks are gearing up for a long winter break full of opening presents, traveling and enjoying holiday treats with family and friends. But for food insecure kids, winter break is filled with worry about how they’ll manage to eat without the security of school breakfasts and lunches for two weeks.

Thankfully, many of Ozarks Food Harvest’s school food pantries step up to meet this need and provide extra meals for kids before the holiday break commences. Central High School in Springfield offers students boxes full of holiday meal ingredients as well as hygiene items for the whole family. Several local elementary schools partner with churches to provide extra meals.

Students who regularly receive Weekend Backpacks at school can still count on receiving their bags before the break begins. Lance is thankful that he can rely on getting this food. He shares it with his entire family.

“The food bag helps my family, because we have a lot of people that live with us and so getting extra food for the weekend is great,” he shared. “And it also helps for weekdays and to get extras on the holidays.”

It breaks my heart to think that children in the Ozarks might not have enough to eat during holiday break—and throughout the rest of the year. Would you consider making a gift to The Food Bank to help these children have food on the table every day of the year?

I’m extremely grateful to each and every one of you for your compassion for children, families and seniors in the Ozarks. Thank you for making a difference in the lives of your hungry neighbors this winter and throughout the year.