Media

SPRINGFIELD, Mo.— Ozarks Food Harvest received 5,773 pounds of food to distribute to its network of hunger relief charities as a result of the Extreme Makeover: Home Edition and Convoy of Hope food drive last week.

Extreme Makeover asked that each spectator bring one nonperishable food item as admission to the building site. Convoy of Hope gathered nearly 6,000 pounds of food, and distributed the donation to Ozarks Food Harvest–The Food Bank.

“We appreciate the generosity of Convoy of Hope to keep the food collected from this important community food drive here in southwest Missouri,” said Denise Gibson, development director for The Food Bank. “With the numbers of requests for food assistance constantly growing, food drives really make the difference to account for the higher demand. We’re blessed to have been made part of this community event.”

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About Ozarks Food Harvest—The Food Bank
Ozarks Food Harvest works with more than 350 hunger relief organizations, reaching more than 53,000 people each month in 29 southwest Missouri counties. According to Ozarks Food Harvest, economic indicators suggest the number of those seeking assistance from pantries will rise to 65,000 by the end of 2009. The Food Bank doubled its distribution to nearly seven million pounds of food annually, the highest distribution in its 25-year history, and this is possible because of its network of charities and direct relief programs such as the Weekend Backpack Program™, Kids Cafe® and the Mobile Food Pantry™.