Media

Springfield business has supported hunger relief in southwest Missouri since 2013

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — Over the past five years, 5 Pound Apparel has provided more than 44,000 meals for children, families and seniors across southwest Missouri through its partnership with Ozarks Food Harvest.

Since 2013, the business has donated five pounds of food for every 5 Pound Apparel-branded t-shirt, hat, candle, koozie, postcard and coffee mug purchased in store or online. The company’s name comes from its mission to donate five pounds of food for each of these purchases.

Husband and wife Ben and Brina Thomas purchased the company in early 2017 and have continued the business’ philanthropic structure.

“We love working with Ozarks Food Harvest. It is amazing to see how a small business, like us, can really make a big difference in our community,” Brina Thomas said. “We are looking forward to growing our partners through donating and volunteer work for years to come.”

Denise Gibson, director of development and communication at Ozarks Food Harvest, believes that locally-owned businesses are staples of Springfield’s growing community. “By working together, we can help raise awareness of The Food Bank’s mission, recruit more volunteers and feed more families in the Ozarks. Our partnership with 5 Pound Apparel has helped provide so many meals to people in need, and we are thankful for their support throughout the past five years,” Gibson said.

Brothers Bryan and Matt Simpson opened 5 Pound Apparel’s downtown Springfield location in December 2010 with the mission of giving back to people in need. In 2014, they opened a second location in Farmers Park on the south side of Springfield.

Ozarks Food Harvest representatives will be at 5 Pound Apparel’s downtown location on Friday, Aug. 3 from 5 – 7 p.m. to talk with shoppers about ways they can get involved in fighting hunger in southwest Missouri.

# # #

About Ozarks Food Harvest — The Food Bank
Ozarks Food Harvest is the Feeding America food bank for southwest Missouri, providing food to 270 organizations across 28 Ozarks counties serving 261,000 unduplicated individuals. The Food Bank provides more than 17 million meals annually.
ozarksfoodharvest.org, facebook.com/ozarksfoodharvest or twitter.com/ozksfoodharvest.