Media

KOLR/KOZL partnering to “Stuff the Truck” May 29–June 4

SPRINGFIELD, Mo.— Ozarks Food Harvest and Clear Channel Media and Entertainment’s Alice 95.5 will kick off the 14^th annual Hungerthon radio-thon next Friday morning in hopes of raising $125,000 for the Backpack Program, which provides food insecure children with a backpack full of nutritious, child-friendly food items to take home over the weekends.

Kevin Howard and Liz Delany of Alice 95.5 will host the four-day, community-wide event for nearly 30 hours between Friday, June 1 and Monday, June 4, asking listeners to help sponsor weekend backpacks. Listeners can also tune in online at alice955.com or on smartphones and tablets by downloading the iHeartRadio app.

Event hours are 6 a.m.­–7 p.m. Friday, 9 a.m.–3 p.m. Saturday, 10 a.m.–2 p.m. Sunday and 6 a.m.–10 a.m. Monday. Listeners can call 417-577-7955 or toll free 800-757-9550 to make a pledge or donate at the event outside Clear Channel, located at the Historic Tower Theatre near Glenstone and Sunshine in Springfield.

New this year, KOLR 10 and KOZL are teaming up with Ozarks Food Harvest and Alice 95.5 before and during the event for a community food drive, as food donations have slowed at Ozarks Food Harvest. The station is asking community members to help “Stuff the Truck” that will be parked outside their studios, May 29–June 4. A listing of most needed food items can be found at ozarksfoodharvest.org/fooddrive.html.

Thirty southwest Missouri schools participate in Ozarks Food Harvest’s Backpack Program, and approximately 30,000 backpacks were distributed last year, which included meals for two breakfasts, two lunches, two dinners, two snacks, drinks and hygiene items.

Last year’s event raised more than $125,000 — enough to provide 415 children in need with six nutritious meals every weekend for the entire school year. For a monthly gift of $12.50 ($150 total), supporters can sponsor a Weekend Backpack for one school semester, or for a donation of $25 a month ($300 total), a child is sponsored for an entire school year, providing more than 200 meals.

Corporate sponsors include BKD, LLP, Burgess Hasting & Dunlop CPAs, Dr. Heather Cline and Cline Dental staff, Dr. Frank R. Newman–Mercy, Hiland Dairy Foods, Nancy Jester, Metropolitan National Bank, Leslie Peck–Peck’s Insurance & Financial Services, David Taylor–Taylor Communications, Rosalie Wooten and several anonymous donors. 2012 event sponsors are again Family Pharmacy and Sonic.

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About Ozarks Food Harvest—The Food Bank
Ozarks Food Harvest is the Feeding America food bank for southwest Missouri, serving 250 hunger relief organizations across 28 Ozarks counties. The Food Bank distributes 12 million pounds of food annually to 170,000 unduplicated individuals. OFH was named the 2011 Small Business of the Year by the Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce, and its facility, the O’Reilly Center for Hunger Relief, recently received a Superior AIB International Food Safety Rating. Learn more at ozarksfoodharvest.org, facebook.com/ozarksfoodharvest or twitter.com/ozksfoodharvest.