Media

Hunger Action Month fundraiser aims to collect $125,000 for the Weekend Backpack Program

SPRINGFIELD, Mo.— Ozarks Food Harvest and Clear Channel Media and Entertainment’s Alice 95.5 will kick off the 15th annual Hungerthon radio-thon Friday morning in hopes of raising $125,000 for The Food Bank’s Weekend 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 Friday, Sept. 6 through Monday, Sept. 9, 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 Friday 6 a.m.­–7 p.m., Saturday 9 a.m.–3 p.m., Sunday 12–4 p.m. and Monday 6–10 a.m. 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 Theater near Glenstone and Sunshine in Springfield.

For a donation of $300, or $25 monthly, a child will receive two breakfasts, two lunches, two dinners, two snacks, drinks and hygiene items every single weekend of an entire school year. Donors can also sponsor a child for a semester at $150, or 12.50 monthly.

More than 40 southwest Missouri schools participate in Ozarks Food Harvest’s Weekend Backpack Program, which now distributes 50,000 bags of annually — that’s up a dozen schools from when the radio-thon was last held, in June 2012. This year is the first year ever that the fundraiser has been held in September which is National Hunger Action Month.

Corporate sponsors include Glenda Bond of Waddell & Reed Financial Services, Burgess Hasting & Dunlop CPAs, Commerce Bank, Cornerstone Jewelry, Harshman Chiropractic Clinic, The Daily Events, Harter House Supermarkets, Jack Henry & Associates, Nancy Jester, Carol Jones, Kraft Foods Foundation, Kraft Foods Group–Springfield, Kraft Foods–1st Shift Dinners, KPM CPAs, Mercy, Metropolitan National Bank, Gary & Donna Naab, Dr. Papagayo Dentistry, Peck’s Insurance & Financial Services, Springfield Grocer, Taylor Communications, The Vecino Group, The Tal & Rosalie O’Reilly Wooten Family Foundation, Yahweh’s Place of Cedarville, MO and several anonymous donors. Family Pharmacy and Sonic are returning as event sponsors as well as many other local businesses.

Last year’s event raised $125,968 — enough to provide about 420 children in need with six nutritious meals every weekend for the entire school year. Since 1999, more than $1 million has been raised through Hungerthon.

To learn more, go to ozarksfoodharvest.org or alice955.com. Find out more about local Hunger Action Month activities at ozarksfoodharvest.org/HAM13.html.

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About Ozarks Food Harvest—The Food Bank
Ozarks Food Harvest is the Feeding America food bank for southwest Missouri, serving more than 200 organizations across 28 Ozarks counties. The Food Bank distributes 10 million meals annually to 170,000 unduplicated individuals. OFH celebrates its 30th anniversary in 2013. Learn more at ozarksfoodharvest.org, facebook.com/ozarksfoodharvest or twitter.com/ozksfoodharvest.