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Community leaders commit to supporting the mission of feeding the Ozarks

Ozarks Food Harvest appointed new leadership to its board of directors and added one new member this week.

The newly-elected president of the board, Tamara de Wild has served as the associate general council and director of legal services at O’Reilly Auto Parts since 2008, previously working as an attorney in private practice for 13 years.

“I’ve been passionate about the issue of hunger for a long time,” said de Wild. “Hunger has an impact on so many different areas of life, whether it is health, education or the ability to concentrate.”

“The number of people who are food insecure now is really at a record high. Ozarks Food Harvest is the primary means to get the food and distribute it to the member agencies so that we can better meet that need.”

Dr. Meera Scarrow, an obstetrician-gynecologist at Mercy Hospital-Springfield who also serves at the Jordan Valley Community Health Center, was named president-elect; Tommy Wohlgemuth, CFO of SGC Foodservice, was appointed treasurer; and Tim Bellanti, senior vice-president and division manager of Associated Wholesale Grocers, is the board’s new secretary.

Brad Crain, president of Arvest Bank, recently became the newest member of the board.

The 16-member volunteer board guides the work at Ozarks Food Harvest, overseeing strategic goals, financial decisions and overall operations of southwest Missouri’s only food bank.

“Our board is made-up of some of the finest people in our area. It means a lot to me and the staff at Ozarks Food Harvest that these successful leaders in our community would give of their time and talents to further our mission,” said Bart Brown, president/CEO of Ozarks Food Harvest. “We’re honored to announce our new board leadership, and we’re confident their expertise will be critical as we work to provide even more food to struggling people in the Ozarks.”

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About Ozarks Food Harvest — The Food Bank
Ozarks Food Harvest is the Feeding America food bank for southwest Missouri, serving more than 200 organizations across 28 Ozarks counties. The Food Bank provides 14 million meals annually to more than 260,000 unduplicated individuals. Learn more at ozarksfoodharvest.org, facebook.com/ozarksfoodharvest or twitter.com/ozksfoodharvest.