News

When a storm devastated rural communities in Barry County this May, the Cassville Pantry stepped in to fill the gaps with the help of Ozarks Food Harvest.

Straight-line winds knocked down trees and power lines across Barry County over Memorial Day weekend, leaving thousands of residents without power for several days, and food stored in fridges and freezers spoiled. Cassville Pantry Director Janet Mills said that people who were already struggling to make ends meet faced an unprecedented lack of resources.

“With all the trees and power lines covering roads, two-thirds of people out of power for one to seven days… people lost food. It was the most impactful moment for the pantry in that crisis, because people at the end of the month had already used their SNAP benefits, and almost everyone felt the loss,” said Janet.

The Cassville Pantry was also without power and had to take immediate action to ensure their supply of perishable food didn’t go to waste. Janet quickly coordinated her volunteer team, reaching out to the community to perform an emergency distribution to neighbors facing hunger who had power and access to a fridge or freezer. Within a day, the pantry was able to give out all of its perishable food before it spoiled.

The pantry was able to help provide food to numerous households throughout Barry County, including neighbors they had served previously, new families and individuals who needed help for the very first time after the crisis.

When power was restored to the pantry, it faced a new problem. The amount of food they had given to the community during the power outage had left the pantry’s shelves bare, and they weren’t prepared for their next distribution day the following week.

That’s when Ozarks Food Harvest stepped in. When Janet called to explain their situation, The Food Bank responded by sending an emergency distribution truck to the pantry so they could fulfill the community’s needs in time for the next distribution event.

“I would say we couldn’t exist without Ozarks Food Harvest,” Janet said.

The Cassville Pantry serves around 1,500 people throughout Barry County monthly with the help of Ozarks Food Harvest. Janet said that she loves partnering with The Food Bank because of the outstanding leadership, grant opportunities, food supply and education.

The Cassville Pantry works to distribute food to neighbors four days a week and provide choices in food through a daily menu that allows people to mark if they have allergies or other nutritional needs.

The Cassville Pantry’s commitment to working with the community and the Food Bank to provide access to safe and healthy food is part of what makes their organization an outstanding partner in the fight to End Hunger throughout southwest Missouri. More information on the work the Cassville Pantry is doing can be found at cassvillepantry.com.