Media

SPRINGFIELD, Mo.— Community members and businesses across the Ozarks came together this weekend to provide 451 at-risk kids with nutritious meals every weekend of the school year.

Ozarks Food Harvest and iHeartMedia’s 19th annual Hungerthon wrapped up this morning collecting $135,209 for The Food Bank’s Weekend Backpack Program. The initiative provides more than 1,600 food insecure children with food to take home every Friday after school. One in five children in southwest Missouri struggle with hunger, especially on the weekends when school meals aren’t available.

“We’ve partnered with Kevin and Liz for 19 years to feed kids in our community. We are so thankful for their support and all the community members who stepped up and donated to this crucial program,” said Bart Brown, Ozarks Food Harvest’s president/CEO.

Kevin Howard and Liz Delany from 105.9 KGBX hosted the radio-thon, which began at 6 a.m. Friday and ended at 10 a.m. today outside the Historic Tower Theater in Springfield. Those involved spent 30 hours this weekend raising money for Ozarks Food Harvest.

“It’s the best four days of our job,” said Liz Delany of The Kevin and Liz Show. “It’s our chance to serve the community and it makes us feel really good to help.”

Backpacks were matched by individuals, businesses and foundations including Associated Electric Cooperative, Inc., Kathy Copeland, CoxHealth, Don Wessel Honda, Harter House, MassMutual, Midwest Tactical, Inc., The Musgrave Foundation, Peck’s Insurance & Financial Services, Ron and Janice Penney and Yahweh’s Place at Cedarville. Event sponsorship included Air Services Heating & Cooling, Family Pharmacy and Sonic.

Fifty-nine southwest Missouri schools participate in Ozarks Food Harvest’s Weekend Backpack Program, which distributes nearly 58,000 backpacks annually. Those bags include meals for two breakfasts, two lunches, two dinners, two snacks and drinks.

If community members were unable to participate in Hungerthon, pledges can still be made securely online at ozarksfoodharvest.org/donate. For a donation of $300, or $25 monthly, a child will receive meals every weekend of an entire school year. For more information, call (417) 865-3411.

Last year’s event raised $140,447. Since 1999, community members have donated $1.77 million through Hungerthon. Find out about all of Ozarks Food Harvest’s Hunger Action Month events at ozarksfoodharvest.org.

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About Ozarks Food Harvest — The Food Bank
Ozarks Food Harvest is the Feeding America food bank for southwest Missouri, serving 270 organizations across 28 Ozarks counties. The Food Bank provides 16.4 million meals annually to more than 260,000 unduplicated individuals. Learn more at ozarksfoodharvest.org, facebook.com/ozarksfoodharvest or twitter.com/ozksfoodharvest.