Ozarks Food Harvest earns four-star consecutive rating from Charity Navigator
SPRINGFIELD, Mo.— Ozarks Food Harvest earned the highest rating of four out of four possible stars from Charity Navigator, the leading nonprofit corporation that evaluates charities in the United States, yesterday.
The regional food bank also received a four-star rating the last two years, indicating OFH outperforms most other U.S. charities, as only 12 percent of charities in the country have received at least three consecutive four-star evaluations.
Ozarks Food Harvest has a 32-year history of food banking in southwest Missouri, providing food, funds and services to more than 200 charities and programs.
The Food Bank recently met its latest three-year strategic initiative goals — two months ahead of time. Ozarks Food Harvest has also distributed more than 16 million pounds of food over the last 12 months, providing more than 13 million meals.
The president of Charity Navigator wrote to The Food Bank, “This ‘exceptional’ designation from Charity Navigator differentiates Ozarks Food Harvest from its peers and demonstrates to the public it is worthy of their trust.”
The letter also indicated this rating demonstrates Ozarks Food Harvest’s commitment to good governance, sound fiscal management, transparency and accountability. Thousands of charities are evaluated but less than a quarter achieve four starts.
Donors can give securely online at ozarksfoodharvest.org, and Food Bank officials say online giving will be made even easier when Ozarks Food Harvest launches its new website in April.
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Ozarks Food Harvest is the Feeding America food bank for southwest Missouri, serving 200 organizations across 28 Ozarks counties. The Food Bank distributes more than 13 million meals annually to 260,000 unduplicated individuals. Learn more at ozarksfoodharvest.org, facebook.com/ozarksfoodharvest or twitter.com/ozksfoodharvest.
Charity Navigator evaluates ten times more charities than its nearest competitor, and currently attracts more visitors to charitynavigator.org than all other charity rating groups combined, making it the leading charity evaluator in America. Data also indicates its site users gave more than they planned to before viewing Charity Navigator’s findings. It is estimated that Charity Navigator influenced approximately $10 billion in charitable gifts last year.
Media contact:
Lindsey Neddenriep, OFH PR Manager
(417) 865-3411, ext. 110 or 834-5828