Area grocers participating in Check Out Hunger through New Year’s Eve
16th annual holiday campaign asks shoppers to make donation for Ozarks Food Harvest
SPRINGFIELD, Mo.— Cashiers at 80 grocery stores across the Ozarks are still asking shoppers to add a donation to their bill to help provide meals for those in need in 2015.
Check Out Hunger gives people the opportunity to add a $1, $3 or $5 tax-free donation to their grocery bill when checking out at area retailers, including Akin’s, Bistro Market, Cash Saver, Country Mart, Dillons, Harter House, HyVee, Murfin’s Market, Pennington’s, Price Cutter, Price Cutter Plus, Ramey, Rhodes Family Price Chopper, Richards Supermarket, Smitty’s, Summer Fresh, Town & Country and Woods Supermarket.
The grocers teamed up to help Ozarks Food Harvest check out hunger in southwest Missouri during the 16th annual retail fundraiser, which started Nov. 15 and goes through Dec. 31.
Donations will be sent to Ozarks Food Harvest in early 2015 to help The Food Bank feed the more than 260,000 unduplicated individuals its network of 200 partner pantries and programs serves annually across 28 counties. According to food bank officials, that’s one in four Ozarks residents who access food from OFH.
Shoppers will find Check Out Hunger signs in the check-out lanes at their local grocery stores. When a shopper chooses to add a donation of choice to his or her grocery bill, the cashier simply scans the donation barcode and the donor signs an “apple” for display. The tax-free gift is added to the bill and appears on the receipt.
The goal is to collect $40,000. Last year, the fundraiser collected $36,515 — the equivalent of 182,500 meals. Since 1998, the holiday campaign has collected $271,000 in donations — the equivalent of nearly 1.4 million meals.
For questions about the campaign, contact Event Coordinator Madeline Brown at (417) 865-3411.
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About Ozarks Food Harvest—The Food Bank
Ozarks Food Harvest is the Feeding America food bank for southwest Missouri, serving 200 organizations across 28 Ozarks counties. The Food Bank distributes 12.5 million meals — or more than 15 million pounds — annually to more than 260,000 unduplicated individuals. Learn more at ozarksfoodharvest.org, facebook.com/ozarksfoodharvest or twitter.com/ozksfoodharvest.
The following are participating communities:
Ash Grove, Aurora, Ava, Bolivar, Bourbon, Branson, Branson West, Buffalo, Cabool, Carthage, Cassville, Clever, Conway, Crocker, Dixon, El Dorado Springs, Fair Grove, Forsyth, Gainesville, Granby, Greenfield, Hartville, Hollister, Houston, Iberia, Joplin, Kimberling City, Lamar, Lebanon, Licking, Mansfield, Marionville, Marshfield, Monett, Mount Vernon, Mountain Grove, Mountain View, Neosho, Nevada, Nixa, Ozark, Purdy, Republic, Richland, Salem, Seymour, Sparta, Springfield, St.James, Steelville, Stockton, Strafford, Waynesville, Webb City, West Plains, Willard and Willow Springs.