Ozarks Food Harvest will lose an estimated $3 million worth of food this year due to recent USDA cuts to The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP). A third of the cancelled orders were protein items like beef, chicken, eggs and pork, which are often the most expensive for us to purchase.
For the 13th year in a row, Ozarks Food Harvest has received a Four-Star Rating – the highest rating possible given to charities – from Charity Navigator. I’m proud to share this news with you because it means that Charity Navigator, America’s largest and most utilized independent charity evaluator, recognizes The Food Bank as of the most effective hunger-relief charities in the nation.
Thanks to supporters like you, Ozarks Food Harvest provided 21 million meals through our network of faith-based and community charities across a third of the state of Missouri in the past year.
According to Feeding America’s latest Map the Meal Gap study, hunger across our 28-county service area has increased from 1 in 7 children and adults to 1 in 5 children and 1 in 6 adults. That’s a dramatic shift in just one year.
Ozarks Food Harvest will invest more than $258,000 this year to provide nutritious food to rural families facing hunger thanks to two recent grants from Feeding America and Tyson Foods.
I’m so proud to share with you that Ozarks Food Harvest received a superior food safety score of 955 out of 1,000 from AIB International this fiscal year! We also earned a perfect score for our cleanliness and sanitation practices in our warehouse.
For the 12th consecutive year, Ozarks Food Harvest has achieved the highest rating of 4 out of 4 possible stars from Charity Navigator, the world’s largest and most trusted nonprofit evaluator. Our recognition is especially meaningful this year because it means I can assure you that during this time of increased childcare, housing and food costs, you’re contributing to one of the most effective hunger-relief charities in the nation.
Thanks to supporters like you, Ozarks Food Harvest provided 20 million meals through our network of faith-based and community charities across a third of the state of Missouri in the past year.
Ozarks Food Harvest is experiencing a higher demand for food assistance than during the height of the pandemic. In the past six months, we’ve served an average 60,000 individuals each month; 10,000 more than during the same period in 2020 and 2021. As many working families struggle to get back on their feet, they’ve encountered a perfect storm of increased childcare costs, high housing prices and rising food expenses.
Ozarks Food Harvest will invest nearly $400,000 this year to provide nutritious food to rural families facing hunger thanks to two recent grants from Feeding America and Tyson Foods.