News

For one working, single mom of two in Taney County, food assistance was more than just food for her family. It was a doorway to opportunity.

The mother worked hard to provide meals, but some months, grocery money was just out of reach, and enrolling her children in extracurricular activities was out of the question. That is, until she found help from local pantry Christian Action Ministries (CAM) who provided the family with groceries to get through the month. Without having to worry about where their next meal was coming from, the woman had enough left in the budget to register her child for the local kids’ soccer league.

“It’s not just food,” said Michele Dean, executive director for CAM. “Sometimes kids don’t get to participate because a family doesn’t have the extra money after groceries. With support from CAM, there’s an opportunity for this child to make new friends, find a new passion and have someone else pour into them.”

This year, CAM is celebrating 40 years of providing food assistance in Taney County, but their mission goes beyond that. They aim to create community and help their neighbors reach new heights – like helping a child explore their passion for soccer. While food gets neighbors in the door, CAM makes a point to build relationships and connect clients to resources like charitable clinics, mental health care, affordable childcare and more. Food is the basic need that, when met, allows for growth to happen.

Last year, CAM experienced their own major growth when a Stone County food pantry reached out for urgent help. The pantry was closing permanently and needed another charity to maintain service for families in their area. CAM had the people and passion to step in, but would need additional resources to meet the need. Ozarks Food Harvest was able to award a $10,000 grant for food purchases, and now CAM supplies seven mobile food distributions each month in Stone County with the help of The Food Bank. In addition to their original Taney County service area, CAM’s impact has dramatically increased to serving 6,000 people each month.

“There’s no way we could do what we do without Ozarks Food Harvest,” explained Michele. “Food is our biggest operating cost. And beyond the food support, Ozarks Food Harvest’s mentorship helps us stay prepared and teaches us how to serve better. They make us feel like we’re not just one out of hundreds of pantries in southwest Missouri.”

Collaboration with Ozarks Food Harvest has allowed CAM to grow in more ways than one. Just last year, CAM started their own community garden with the help of The Food Bank’s experienced Full Circle Gardens staff. “We started small,” said Michele. “I was going to be happy if we got one thing to grow, but we’ve been able to share a variety of vegetables directly from our garden with clients! We also learned how to compost, which has helped our garden grow and reduces food waste. It’s something we never would’ve started if we hadn’t visited Ozarks Food Harvest’s farm.”

The garden has even become another avenue to educate neighbors in need as CAM provides gardening tips and recipes with produce grown on-site. It’s just one more example of how CAM lifts up their neighbors starting with that basic need – food.

CAM’s story is exactly what it means to Transform Hunger into Hope. We’re proud to partner with faith-based and community charities like CAM throughout the Ozarks who know food is the first step to growth for so many of our neighbors. Your support makes stories of hope like these possible. Thank you for investing in the health of our communities.