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Local schools participate in 2013 Food Fight challenge

Local schools participate in 2013 Food Fight challenge

April 18, 2013

SPRINGFIELD, Mo.— Ozarks Food Harvest is challenging the community’s elementary, middle and high schools to the 2013 Food Fight, a week-long food drive competition to see which school can collect the most pounds of food per student, Monday, April 22 through Friday, April 26.

“The Food Fight food drive takes place during National Volunteer Week,” said Denise Gibson, development director at Ozarks Food Harvest. “Hosting food drives is one of our greatest volunteer needs at Ozarks Food Harvest. Of the one million pounds we distribute monthly, not even three percent is from community food drives, and people seem to be surprised to hear that. Food drives also bring in some of the best donations like canned tuna, an item high in protein.”

Food collected from each school will be weighed at The Food Bank after donations are received. The school with the highest pounds collected, per student, becomes the 2013 Food Fight champion and receives a traveling trophy to be displayed until next year’s food drive.

In its first year, more than 7,000 pounds of food were collected from area schools, providing roughly 6,000 meals to families in southwest Missouri. The previous Food Fight champion was Cherokee Middle School, collecting more than 2,000 pounds of food for Ozarks Food Harvest.

Schools that have accepted the challenge so far include Shady Dell Elementary, Pipkin and Cherokee Middle Schools and Strafford High School.

Community members who would like to donate food to students to bring to school can find most needed items 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 250 nonprofit agencies 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.