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Food donations delivered to Ozarks Food Harvest this morning totaled 45,010 pounds, a new record for Cans for Coffee and for the regional food bank

SPRINGFIELD, Mo.— Ozarks Food Harvest received a large truckload of nonperishable food items this morning, thanks to the seventh annual McDonalds Cans for Coffee food drive that ended last Sunday.

Sixty-three area McDonald’s restaurants collected 45,010 pounds of food for Ozarks Food Harvest and its partners, exceeding this year’s Cans for Coffee goal of 30,000 pounds — and surpassing McDonald’s of the Ozarks’ largest collection of 36,650 pounds in 2011.

The donation makes Cans for Coffee the largest annual food drive for the regional food bank — a record most recently set by the annual School Food Fight drive with 39,450 pounds raised in food and dollars.

“Our volunteers will begin sorting the food donations tomorrow morning,” said Denise Gibson, OFH development director. “And we expect to move all of this food in just a couple of weeks, so that it can help folks out for the holidays.”

The 45,010 pounds will provide 37,508 meals to OFH’s network of food pantries and programs.

From Oct. 21–Nov. 10, McDonald’s of the Ozarks encouraged customers to donate a canned good in exchange for one free small McCafé® drink of their choice. On Oct. 30, Tyson Foods, Inc. donated 35,200 pounds of frozen chicken in the name of the Cans for Coffee food drive. Since 2008, McDonald’s of the Ozarks has collected more than 185,000 pounds of food—nearly 155,000 meals—from community members through Cans for Coffee. Last year, nearly 27,000 pounds of food was collected.

Only two food drives have been larger in OFH’s history, but they are not annual. They were disaster-relief drives, including a Joplin tornado collection by Clear Channel, which brought in 49,590 pounds, and a Hurricane Katrina drive by KTTS, collecting 63,730 pounds.

“We are so thankful for McDonald’s continued partnership, and we especially appreciate all their generous customers who help make this happen year after year,” Gibson said.

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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.