Food Bank challenges churches to “catch fish” during Lent in Fish Drive
Inaugural fish drive will benefit Ozarks Food Harvest’s network of pantries
SPRINGFIELD, Mo.— Ozarks Food Harvest is asking area churches to host food drives in hopes of reeling in thousands of pounds of canned or “pouched” fish — one of the regional food bank’s most needed food items.
“We’ve reached out to dozens of our church volunteer groups to see if they’d collect canned fish for us,” said Denise Gibson, development director at Ozarks Food Harvest. “We’re encouraging all of our faith-supported member food pantries to promote this drive in their communities. The more we all collect, the more families we can collectively impact.”
Event organizers scheduled the “canned fish” food drive to coincide with Lent this year, Feb. 18 through April 3.
“This is the first time we’ve asked for one specific kind of protein item from the public. Canned fish is really a great deal,” Gibson said. “Not only is it a good source of protein, it’s fully-cooked, shelf-stable, low-cost and often packaged in single servings.”
To help increase protein options for OFH partner food pantries, food bank officials are asking church groups to collect items such as canned or pouched tuna, salmon, mackerel, sardines or oysters.
To sign up your church or group, contact Terry Keller at (417) 865-3411 or tkeller@ozarksfoodharvest.org. Registration is also available online at ozarksfoodharvest.org/fooddrive.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 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.